Truth Seeker
by Kulmanari
Summary: In the aftermath of the demonic invasion that brought the world to its knees, Cody Martin is on the run. Scared, confused and grief stricken, he now fights for his life in a world that no longer belongs to the human race.
1. September 7th, 2008

The Chaos Series by Kulmanari_  
_

_**Truth Seeker **- The Chaos Demons - Legend of the Black Knight - Reflections In Time_

**Prologue**

"**September 7****th****, 2008"**

"_The power of the Children of Light is directly related to the strength of the darkness. The stronger the darkness becomes, the more power and abilities the Children unlock. Without the threat of true darkness, they are just natural born leaders and the warriors of our legends. With a true threat however, they become something more…"_ Observer of the First Battle for Earth

There was nothing about that Sunday morning that seemed different. Nothing was out of place and there were no strange feelings signaling that today was going to be any different from the day before. No one could have predicted that this day was a turning point in the history of mankind. It started as a normal day, just like any other.

Cody Martin slowly returned to consciousness early in the morning, unwilling to open his eyes just yet. His dream had been pleasant, though as he lay there waking up he struggled to remember what it had been about. Eventually he gave up and stretched his arms and legs feeling the cold air touch his bare limbs, such a stark contrast to the comfortable warmth of his body heat trapped underneath the blankets. Cody yawned deeply and then rubbed the gunk out of his eyes before opening them to the soft blue light streaming in from the window that preceded sunrise.

He climbed out of bed, dressed only in blue boxers and a loose white t-shirt, glancing across the room at the sleeping figure of his brother bundled up underneath his blankets. Zack had been up late as usual, though Cody couldn't blame him really since it was the weekend. Even Cody had stayed up late the night before playing video games with his twin before calling it quits around midnight when their mother finished reading her book and demanded to have her pull out couch back so she could watch some television before falling asleep. Zack had stayed up with her to watch some late night shows while Cody had turned in.

Taking a few steps in the dim light, Cody suddenly felt pain ripple through his right foot as he stubbed his toe on something lying on the floor. He glanced down as he shifted weight off of his injured foot to stand on one leg and saw the silhouette of Zack's skateboard. Cody hissed in pain, hopped a couple of steps backward and sat down at the end of his bed nursing his big toe. A flash of anger rippled through him, Zack never cleaned his side of the room and constantly left his stuff lying on the floor like that. Deciding to get some petty revenge Cody reached behind him, grabbed one of his pillows and chucked it across the room at his brother.

"Oww, what the…? Zack mumbled groggily as he sat up and squinted around the room before settling his bleary eyed gaze on him. His brother was a light sleeper most of the time and Cody had hit him dead on in the face. The anger he had felt moments ago vanished as he suppressed the urge to laugh at the bewildered expression on Zack's face. It was that dumb 'I just woke up!' look. His hair was all messed up and sticking in front of his face at odd angles which made him look supremely ridiculous.

"Next time don't leave your skateboard in the middle of the floor!" Cody chastised his brother before getting to his feet and hobbling over to the dresser to pull out a fresh change of clothes for the day and lay them out on top of his bed.

"Yeah, yeah," Zack said, deciding not to put up a fight, lying back on his bed and closing his eyes. He wasn't going back to sleep though, that much was evident by how he pulled his legs up closer to his chest and sat up a little bit against his headboard. He just didn't want to get out of bed yet. Cody shook his head at Zack's laziness and then he left their shared room to go into the bathroom for some personal hygiene.

"Morning honey," Carey Martin said sleepily from the kitchen where she was just starting to pull out a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread as she got ready to make breakfast.

"Morning mom," Cody returned the greeting as he went into the bathroom. He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower. Cody stayed under the hot spray for much longer than he normally did, feeling unusually grubby today for some reason. All he had done the other day was study with Barbara at the public library, have lunch with her later in the afternoon and then spent some time at home before catching a new action movie with Zack around six.

Eventually Cody finished, dried off and stood at the sink with his towel wrapped around his waist brushing his teeth and then combing his hair. There! Now he was wide awake, clean and ready to start the day. It was just a normal part of his routine for a normal kind of day.

Crossing back through the suite into his bedroom he noticed that Zack had been drawn out of bed by the smell of eggs and toast. He was wearing his skater outfit today, long baggy black shorts and an orange t-shirt, which was a tell tale sign of his plans for the day. Zack was already digging in and Carey was fixing a couple of plates for herself and Cody as well.

Today he was going to go plain Cody thought as he pulled on his loose fitting blue jeans and a black shirt. No vests, turtle necks or collared shirts for him today. He had no plans for the day, which usually meant he'd try to arrange something to do with his friends or just tag along with his brother and do whatever he did. Again, nothing about this day seemed any different than hundreds of other weekends.

He soon found himself seated at the table scooping up forkfuls of scrambled eggs. Carey Martin's cooking was the stuff of legend, the bad kind of legend that is, but breakfast was the one meal of the day that even she had a hard time messing up. Normally they just ate something easy to make for dinner, takeout or had whatever Cody made whenever he felt up to cooking an incredible tasting meal. Even Zack, who had a hard time being polite or thanking people, greatly appreciated the results of Cody's efforts in the kitchen.

"Sup Codes?" Zack inquired between bites of toast as he finished off his plate getting strawberry jelly stuck on the corner of his mouth. He flicked his tongue out to clean it off, earning him a reproving look from their mother.

"Not much, probably going to hang with you at the skate park today."

"You wish you could hang with me," Zack replied with a knowing grin, his competitive streak taking over as he implied that Cody couldn't keep up with him on the ramps.

"Yeah okay," Cody shot back, knowing that he could keep up with his twin easily with all of the practice that he had put in lately. Zack might be better at some of the harder tricks and do some things Cody didn't want to try, but other than that they were dead even. The verbal sparring between the twin brothers was just a normal start to a day that was going to be anything but normal. It was a day that would change Cody Martin's life forever. That was the moment, when the boy's hard stares directed at each other devolved into a fit of shared laughter, when something slammed loudly into the door of their suite making them all jump in surprise.

All eyes turned toward the entrance as the door started to bend inward, the wooden frame around it cracking and splintering. The Martins stood up, Carey reaching out for Cody's cell phone on the kitchen counter, the twins backing away as adrenaline pumped into their systems activating their fight or flight mechanisms. Something told Cody that whoever was on the other side of the door intended to do serious harm to himself and his family.

"Get in your room and lock the door," Carey commanded as she moved to stand between her sons and the front door. The fear in her voice coupled with the firmness of her tone made the twins take a few steps towards their room as she started dialing 911. Then the door came off its hinges and crashed to the floor, admitting the last thing Cody would have ever expected to see in his life into their suite. Demonic creatures flooded into the room, each of them taller and bigger than any of the Martins. Everything from that point forward happened in a blur as he moved and acted so fast that he didn't have time to feel fear or horror.

"CODY!" Zack yelled, snapping him out of his funk. Together the twins raced into their room and locked the door behind them as their mother threw herself into the path of the creatures in order to protect her children and buy them some time to escape. He tried to block out his mother's screams as they both looked around their bedroom, trying to figure out some way to escape or find something to defend themselves with.

"Now what?" Cody demanded aloud as his search of the room came up with nothing promising. Zack was looking around too and then his gaze settled on the wall behind Cody's bed. There was a vent there leading into the ducts that circulated air throughout the hotel. It might just work Cody realized as he sprang forward and worked to get the cover off. The monsters slammed into the bedroom door as he started pulling himself up into the duct and he hesitated in horror…was their mother already dead?

"GO!!!" Zack exclaimed, pushing Cody the rest of the way into the vent. It was a tight squeeze, the twins had gotten bigger over the years and they could now barely fit in the ducts. Zack climbed in behind him as the door to their room flew off its hinges and slammed into the wall narrowly missing Zack's feet which were not all the way in the duct yet. One of the monsters grabbed Zack by the ankle and started dragging him out. He dug into the rivets and separations between each section of duct work with the tips of his fingers holding on for dear life.

"Cody help!" Zack cried. At the four way junction between suites Cody squirmed and squeezed his body around to turn and go back after Zack. He crawled forward until his jeans suddenly snagged on something, a loose screw. He couldn't move forward anymore but he reached out, his fingertips managing to reach Zack's outstretched hand. They held onto each other, both straining to reach out even further. Cody heard his jeans start to tear as the monster pulled Zack backward. No! This wasn't happening!

The monster pulling Zack backwards bit down on the leg that it was holding. His brother screamed out in agony and lost his grip on the duct work. Zack's other hand then slipped out of Cody's and he watched helplessly as the monster dragged Zack out of the duct and threw him to the floor between both beds. Zack rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the pouncing action of the monster that had been holding him. He kicked that particular monster in the head with his good foot and swung around to punch two more with his bare hands.

Time seemed to slow as Zack lashed out in every direction trying to fight off the monsters. There seemed to be a faint glow of white light surrounding him now as his punches landed with surprising speed and strength, knocking several of the creatures down. It was all in vain though, there were just too many for him to fight off, as one of the monsters knocked him off his feet.

Cody was screaming in the duct, pounding his fists on the metal, doing everything he could to free himself and help fight off the monsters trying to kill his brother. Zack managed to get to his feet and reached the duct, but rather than climb in, he slammed it shut and locked it.

"NO!!!" Cody screamed at his brother as confusion settled in. His mind just couldn't understand why Zack wouldn't try to escape now while he had the chance. Zack stared at Cody through the duct cover, their tear streaked eyes locked gazes as the older twin tried to make the younger twin understand that he loved him very much and was ready to die at any time to protect him if it became necessary. That time had now come, but Cody just couldn't understand it. A selfless act from such a selfish person.

"Remember me…" Zack said sadly before he glanced to his side where one of the monsters he knocked down had recovering and rushing towards him. Zack caught the creature and crashed into the floor with it. He wrestled with it, tried to punch it, bit its flesh, tried kicking out his legs to topple the other monsters in the room and do anything else that he could think of to keep all attention on him to buy his brother time to escape.

After a moment Cody heard his brother's horrible screams of pain. It was the worst thing he had ever heard in his life. It was the last thing he had ever wanted to hear. Zack's screams were abruptly cut off and then all was silent for a moment.

"Don't just stand around!" A man's voice suddenly said, startling a sobbing Cody just enough to halt his progression into breaking down emotionally at the loss of his mother and brother, "There's two of them fools!" The monsters roared inhumanly and tore off the vent cover, reaching in for Cody. He backed away as fear took hold of him and guided him away deeper into the ductwork out of line of sight.

It was a good thing he had moved as fast as he did. There was a flash of reddish pink light reflected by the metallic panels of the duct that almost burned itself into his retina and then everything behind him exploded. He raced forward through the tight confines of the duct towards the vent that was closest to the main stairwell. Cody didn't realize that he too was glowing softly like Zack had been, nor did he care.

Reaching his destination in record time, Cody pushed against the vent cover with all his strength and it popped off surprisingly easy. He pulled himself out quickly, slid down the wall and flipped over as his feet left the duct. Cody landed catlike, flexing his knees to absorb the impact and putting his hands on the ground to steady the landing. The hallway was empty except for a few debris from the busted doorway to Suite 2330 a few rooms down.

Cody rapidly moved into the stairwell and ran down four flights before exiting onto the nineteenth floor and racing over to the elevator. An older man in a black business suit was just getting off, a cup of coffee held in one hand and a briefcase in the other. He must have just come up from the lobby…it must still be safe down there Cody realized as he jumped into the elevator. The man barely had time to give Cody an inquiring look before he jammed the button for the lobby repeatedly and the doors closed.

He fell against the doors of the elevator as it started moving downward, breathing heavily from the exertion of the last few minutes and feeling the sweat pour down his face mingling with tears and snot. Cody's mind was still on escape mode and he found it difficult to think about his slain family, the monsters that had invaded his suite or the man's voice which had spoken to said monsters coming from a location just outside of Cody's line of sight. All he knew now was that he had to get away. His body and mind together demanded that he survive this encounter.

The elevator reached the lobby and opened its doors spilling a desperate Cody out onto the carpet startling several guests and hotel employees. He sprang to his feet and made a run for the front doors. The Tipton's general manager Marion Moseby stepped in his path and grabbed Cody's shoulders. His eyes were alight with bewilderment and concern for the young man. He tried to hide it, but he truly cared about the boys.

"Cody what on Earth…?" Moseby started to ask before he cut the man off.

"Z.. and ma..mom…Th…they're..da…dead…" Cody sobbed through a fit of hiccups, his body shaking violently from fear and his crying. Moseby stared at him, not comprehending how something bad like that could possibly happen in his hotel. It just couldn't happen!

Whatever Moseby did next, Cody wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort him or guide him over to the nearby couch, was met with fierce resistance. Cody's mind believed that Moseby was trying to restrain him and he fought free of the older man's grip. The sound of an inhuman roar could suddenly be heard in the distance. He didn't exactly speak monster, but the meaning was clear. They knew where he was…

"They're coming…" Cody whispered in fear, looking over his shoulder at the stairwell where he'd heard the sound come from. He pushed past a startled Moseby, blew past Norman at the revolving door and hit the street outside of the Tipton running at full speed. He didn't dare look back…

* * *

**A/N:** A - Cool! B - Really Cool! C - Freaking Awesome! D - Whoa! E – Meh!

I tell you readers I was possessed when I wrote this, I love it when I fall into those writing trances where you stop, look up and see all that you have jotted down. This prologue is basically a much more expanded and intense combination of Cody's dreams from "The Chaos Demons" Chapters' 1 and 2. If you're new to the series, fear not! This is how it all began, so hold onto your seats folks. The ride is about to begin!

"Truth Seeker" covers Cody's life in the aftermath of the Demon invasion leading up to "The Chaos Demons" as he discovers his powers and starts to understand just who and what he really is amid the never ending pursuit by the Demons and their masters. It answers many questions I know the readers of my first story have been wondering about. While there is a lot of information provided in this story it is bound to have a few continuity errors in order for me to better tell the tale. Just bear with me folks and enjoy the story!

Thanks for reading. See you in the next Chapter!


	2. Weapon of Light

_**"Truth Seeker", a ****Prequel to "The Chaos Demons"**_

**Chapter One**

"**Weapon of Light"**

_"The first stage of a Child's power is attained immediately after having their powers unlocked by the proximity of true darkness. Every Child has a legendary weapon made of light, bound to their soul and theirs alone, which can manifest itself in physical form when it is needed most. Along with the weapon comes the inheritance of combat skills from previous lives. The Children are now able to tap into the flow of light around them, characterized by the auras of light that surround their bodies." _– Truth Seeker Kulmanari Almora

Three days had come and gone since Cody Martin had lost his twin brother and mother at the hands of the Demons now invading the entire world. Three hours had come and gone since he had lost his father, the last remaining family that he had…

Cody had fled from the Tipton and eventually found himself standing outside of Kurt Martin's apartment on the other side of downtown Boston where he was staying while performing with his band at local clubs and concerts. He'd left the spare key hidden in the potted plant that stood outside of his room just in case he locked himself out or if the boys wanted to come over early before he got home to hang out for a few hours. Cody let himself in and locked the door behind him, backing away and staring at it for what seemed like several hours expecting to see the Demons come crashing through it at any second. Eventually he finally moved away from the door and laid down on his father's couch, curling up in the fetal position where he started crying and shaking. Mom…Zack…Dead…He couldn't accept that reality, he just couldn't.

He must have cried himself to sleep there because several hours later he awoke to someone gently shaking him. Having dreamt about being chased by the monsters that had killed his family, Cody awoke with a start and fell off the couch. He yelped in surprise and made an attempt to get away from whatever was in the room with him.

"Whoa there Codester! It's me! It's Dad!" Cody looked up at his father dumbly from where he was on the floor about to spring to his feet and make a run for the door. He relaxed as the dream started fading away and recognized the deeply concerned face of Kurt Martin looking at him in the fading evening light streaming in through the windows. Getting to his feet, Cody wrapped his arms around his father who embraced him tightly in return.

"You're safe Cody. You're safe, I've got you son," Kurt whispered soothingly as he gently patted Cody on the back. The funny thing was, despite the apparent strength of the Demons that had chased him, he felt safe and protected in his father's arms. His heart ached with the pain of loss and he buried his face in Kurt's chest, his tears running down the leather jacket his father wore.

"They're dead dad…" Cody finally whimpered, wishing that his father would tell him that it wasn't true, wishing that he would tell him that Zack and Mom were ok and that everything would be alright. Unfortunately Cody knew the cold hard truth. He just didn't want to accept it yet. Kurt guided his son back to the couch and sat down with him, still holding onto Cody tightly.

"I know Cody, I know," He said softly, stroking Cody's hair and pushing it out of his tearstained face, "You're alive though. Thank god you're alive…I don't know what I would have done if…" Kurt trailed off, unable to think of a future without his children. Cody looked up at his father and saw him crying as well. They both sat there in silence letting their tears flow unimpeded until they eventually fell asleep together on the couch.

In those few days Cody had grieved until he could grieve no more. He cried until his eyes stung and soon he had no more tears left to shed. He'd grown up a lot in those three days, shedding his childhood innocence with the realization that bad things could indeed happen to him. He was no longer safe. In fact no one was safe as the Demons appeared around the globe three days after Zack and Carey had been killed and brought about the end of the world.

Three hours after Kurt had died Cody found himself walking through the streets of downtown Boston clutching a piece of metal piping he'd scavenged from a destroyed building earlier. It wasn't much of a weapon, but he felt better with the cold hard metal pressed against the warmth of his palm. He had no plan and no idea where he was going. Cody was just following a scattered crowd of people fleeing the city on foot, which was now the fastest way to get around.

Boston was a wreck, or at least the parts of it he'd seen were anyway. Buildings had been toppled over into the streets and the main roads were clogged with the wreckage of numerous car crashes. Water mains were broken, spewing geysers of liquid into the air only to come crashing down all over the place. Gas lines had ruptured and several buildings were now burning out of control, the fires spreading uncontrollably in part because of the lack of water pressure in the city and because the Demons were overwhelming everyone. The police were scattered and the emergency services were nowhere to be found. It was every man for himself now.

Some instinct in the back of his mind told Cody that following along in the wake of a crowd of people was not a good idea. The Demons were everywhere and it was only a matter of time before they ran into them. All of these people together attracted far too much attention for their own good. He turned off on a side street, leaving the crowd and walking his path alone now.

Cody crept along listening for any sign of the Demons, but it was a hard thing to do given the amount of background noise of the dying city flooding into his ears. There were car alarms going off, distant wails of emergency vehicles, helicopters passing overhead, the sound of buildings crashing to the ground and the roar of multiple raging infernos consuming everything in their path. There had to be a safe way out of this city, there just had to be!

Just ahead he spotted the entrance to a subway station, which made Cody start to formulate a plan of escape. He doubted that the trains were still running, but with any luck the tunnels should be clear of Demons. After all, most of them were busy destroying the city above and hunting down every last man, woman and child on the surface. The tunnels wouldn't take him all the way out of the city, but they would be close enough.

He walked silently down the escalator which wasn't functioning, careful not to bang his pipe against anything and attract any attention in the tomb like silence. The lights were still on surprisingly, making Cody wonder if the subway system had its own independent source of power. The city above was dark.

Cody froze as he heard the blood curling scream of a child further ahead of him. Someone else was down here, and they obviously weren't alone. He should have turned around and made a run for it, but he didn't think that he could live with himself if he abandoned whoever it was down there to the Demons either. He swallowed hard and swiftly hurried down the steps to the station floor, his hatred of the monsters overpowering the fear inside of him.

Looking to his right, Cody spotted a girl who had fallen down and was scrambling to get back up and run towards him. Just behind her was a lone Demon that reminded him of an Orc from Lord of the Rings, only much uglier.

"Leave her alone!" Cody shouted, getting the Orc's attention. As the Demon closed the gap Cody swung his pipe at it with all of the strength that he could muster aiming for its head. The metal weapon connected with a sickening sound, making the Orc stagger sideways. He drew the weapon back and lashed out again hoping to seriously injure it. This time however, the Orc caught the pipe with its horribly disfigured hands. Cody struggled to pull it back, but the Demon ripped it out of his grip and tossed the pipe away.

Weaponless, Cody started to back away. The Orc matched his pace, growling in anticipation of the kill. It glanced at the girl standing just behind and beside Cody and bared its sharpened teeth. It was at that moment that Cody unknowingly used his powers for the first time. Just the thought of this demonic creature putting its hands on the innocent girl, hurting her and then killing her made something strange click into place inside of him. Energy suddenly infused him, spreading out from his chest to his legs and arms. It was a euphoric feeling and he felt great. In fact Cody felt better than great, he felt powerful for the first time in his life.

"You son of a bitch!" Cody growled, stepping between the girl and the Orc who had frozen in place to stare at him. Without waiting for the creature to react, Cody cocked his right arm back and delivered a devastating punch that sent the Orc crashing backwards. The amount of force delivered should have been enough to injure Cody's fist in some way, especially as his hands weren't conditioned for fighting, but surprisingly he only felt the impact between fist and flesh as a thudding sensation that reverberated through his arm. The Demon rolled to a stop and quickly got to its feet, hissing in annoyance and drawing a double sided axe off of its back.

As the Orc swung the axe at him in a downward motion, Cody leaned his body to the right, braced his legs by widening his stance and raised his hands together to one side of the attack. He felt extremely foolish for doing this, but at the same time it felt like the right thing to do. A flash of light between his cupped hands nearly blinded him as it spread outward in a straight line like a laser beam for roughly three feet. The light faded, leaving a perfectly crafted sword held between Cody's hands. The crude axe halted as it hit the edge of the sword, the impact of the weapons resonating kinetic force through his whole body as he struggled to keep the Orc from pushing down on him with its weapon. He twisted to the left, turning the Orc's attack away from him with the flat of the blade and drew the sword back with one hand, surprised at how light the weapon was and the perfect balance it had.

Without hesitation Cody drove the weapon straight into the Orc's chest while it was still recovering and before it could react. The sword pierced through the Demon's crude armor and continued on into its body meeting no resistance, much like how a hot knife cuts through butter. Golden light flared along the exposed portion of the blade, racing into the Demon's body. Its mouth dropped open in horrified surprise as cracks appeared along its body, lines of golden light racing outward from where the sword met flesh. The light intensified in brightness and then the Orc exploded into black smoke which rapidly dispersed, leaving Cody and the girl he'd rescued alone. It was over…He had killed it…

He stood there for a moment completely dumbstruck. Cody lowered the sword and watched as it flared brightly again before disappearing to wherever it had come from. The strength and infusion of power he felt drained away rapidly, leaving him feeling cold and weak without it. The girl came around in front of Cody and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest, "I thought I was going to die…" Cody returned the embrace, trying to comfort the shaken girl. Truthfully he was feeling conflicting emotions now, there was still the grief of losing his family plaguing his heart but now there was something else. He'd saved an innocent life by protecting her from the Demons. It made him feel needed, it made him feel like he had a purpose and a calling. Cody could protect people from the Demons, especially if he could figure out what had just happened and where the sword made of light had come from.

"You're safe. You're safe, I've got you now…" Cody echoed the words spoken to him by his father. He was beginning to understand his parents now. He was beginning to understand how they had felt when the twins were in danger of getting hurt or killed.

"I'm Cody," he introduced himself when she finally let go of him.

"What a nice name. I'm Lily."

"What are you doing down here all alone?" Cody asked as he walked over to where his metal pipe had landed. He picked it up, noting how wrong it felt. It was heavier than the sword, unbalanced as it was the same density from one side to the other and much less deadly as it lacked the sharpened edges of the finely crafted blade. He was no expert when it came to swords, but the uniform smoothness of the weapon coupled with its high polished reflective blade spoke a lot about its quality not to mention how it felt when he had wielded it.

"Looking for a way out of the city," Lily answered following Cody and studying him with her green eyes. She had shoulder length blond hair and the bangs framed her face very nicely. Cody could tell that she would be very beautiful when she got older.

"Where are your parents?"

"I'm thirteen, I can take care of myself." Cody raised an eyebrow, wondering if she had already forgotten her encounter with the Orc. He gave her a disbelieving stare and she wilted under his gaze, "I don't know where they are. We got separated in the crowds hours ago and then something appeared above me and I ran…"

The memory of Kurt pushing through the crowds with Cody in tow came flooding back to him at her words. Father and son were trying to get out of the city on foot as the roads were jammed with traffic. There was a surge of people traveling with them and it had attracted the attention of a flying Demon.

Someone tripped and fell, knocking Kurt sideways where he lost his hold on Cody and was swallowed up in the throng of bodies. Cody managed to get out of the worst part of the mass of people and climb up on the hood of an abandoned car, looking for his father as his childhood instinct told him to stay where he had lost sight of Kurt and wait to be found by him. A moment later Cody spotted Kurt standing up in the bed of a pickup truck half a block ahead of him at an intersection. They spotted each other and Kurt tried shouting to him, but his voice was swallowed up by the chaos going on around him.

That was when a shadow passed overhead and Cody looked up into the air, horrified to see a flying Demon pass by. It looked like a dragon, but that just couldn't possible. The mass of people saw it coming and panicked, stampeding in all directions to get away and trampling others in the process. Kurt jumped out of the truck and vanished from sight just as the monster reared its head back and spewed a gout of flame into the intersection.

In a matter of seconds the abnormal fire spread outward, consuming the entire intersection and spreading in all four directions down each street. Cody dove to the ground and scampered around behind the car as the heat of the fire reached him. It felt like opening a preheated oven and getting blasted by five hundred degree heat. He broke out into a heavy sweat, his eyes watered and he felt his skin threatening to blister.

When the heat faded, Cody stood up from behind his cover listening to the horrified screams around him as his eyes laid their gaze upon the spot where he had last saw his father. There was nothing left of the intersection or the people in it for that matter. All that remained was a blackened crater and fire spreading out from the edge of it in all directions. Then the smell of cooked flesh hit him…

Cody staggered backward as he gagged from the overpowering smell, bile racing up his throat threatening to spill out of his nose and mouth. He took several steps backward wishing that he would see Kurt miraculously appear and dust himself off, but Cody knew deep down that he would never see his father again. He turned and ran, never looking back.

"Cody?" Lily wondered aloud, snapping him out of his memory.

"I'm sure they're fine," Cody mumbled, remembering that they had been talking about her parents. The image of the dragon swooping down and blasting the intersection haunted him, but now he saw Lily in place of himself watching as her parents died. Lily just shook her head and said nothing for a moment.

"So what's the plan?" Lily asked after the silence between them stretched for an uncomfortably long period of time.

"What?" Cody asked distractedly, still trying to chase away the grotesque images of people being burned alive.

"You're trying to get out of the city right? I'd like to come with you."

"Lily, are you sure?"

"Yes. I feel safe with you Cody."

* * *

**A/N:** With the death of Kurt, Cody has lost all of his family. He decides to make an escape on his own, but fate seems to have other plans in store for him when he meets Lily and protects her from the very same Demons that killed his mother and brother. What does the future hold for the pair?

Cody has also discovered that he posses a power of some sort in addition to wielding a beautiful, but deadly, sword made of light enabling him to effectively defend himself and protect others. What is this power and where did the sword come from? Read on if you dare, as Cody and Lily try to make it out of Boston alive.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The prologue stays pretty close to Cody's dreams in Chapters 1 and 2 of The Chaos Demons (albeit better written and way more expanded) and this chapter borrowed from TCD Chapter 3 for Kurt's scenes, but now Truth Seeker is headed off in its own direction and we won't know where it's going until it ends.

There are many surprises, twists, new characters, appearances of characters from TCD and Reflections that you know and love (or hate) and so much more as Cody learns just who and what he is while learning to control his new powers. I'm keeping my profile updated often, usually daily, with news about Iraq, my progress of this story, plot ideas I'm considering and of course the all mighty opinion poll. Be sure to check back often!

Till next time, stay tuned and keep it real!


	3. Forging Ahead

**Chapter Two**

"**Forging Ahead"**

"_The second stage of a Child's power is attained when the threat of the darkness grows beyond that which the light weapons and physical skills of the Children can handle alone. With the increase in the amount of light that they can channel through their bodies, the Children are able to shape the light into destructive energies which they can launch at their foes with devastating results."_ – White Knight Ryen Almora

They had spent several hours walking through the dark underground subway tunnels. Lily would be startled by the occasional creepy sound heard in the distance and once she had been scared enough to grab a hold of Cody. He too was afraid of what the sounds they heard might mean, but he didn't dare show it as he knew that he needed to be strong for Lily.

Ahead of them was a patch of light, coming from a source just outside of his line of sight since the tunnel section that they were in was curving to the left. It was another platform, one of many that they had passed. When they were between stations, Lily would strike up a conversation by asking Cody about normal things such as where he was from, what some of his favorite things to do were and stuff like that. Now as they approached the station Cody and Lily fell into their improvised routine where both fell silent and crept forward without making a sound as they listened for any sign of the Demons.

Unlike all of the previous times that they had passed a station, there was noise coming from up ahead. The sounds were pretty low, it sounded like deep breathing, low growling and something shuffling across the concrete floor. It didn't take long for the pair to reach the station, making sure to hug the same side of the tunnel that the station was on in order to stay out of sight as long as possible. Cody signaled Lily to stay put in the dim light reaching their hiding place and then he crossed the remaining distance to the platform alone.

Cody hugged the wall as he peered around the corner, careful not to make any sudden movements that would attract attention. His first priority was to make sure that he wasn't spotted, and once he was sure of his concealment he took in the situation. There were several Orcs walking around the station, picking through abandoned briefcases, laptop bags and backpacks. He couldn't get an accurate count because there were several Orcs looking around inside of the various rooms connected to the platform, such as the janitors closet, and milling around the escalator. He wondered what they were doing.

Creeping back the way he had come, Cody found Lily waiting for him with questioning eyes. He whispered that there were Demons ahead into her ear and then motioned her to follow and stay low. Slowly and carefully they crept past the platform, hunched over to keep themselves out of sight of the Demons. They were almost past the platform when a voice spoke, making Cody freeze on the spot so fast that Lily accidentally bumped into him.

"He's close," the familiar voice of a man said, "Are you certain you checked everywhere?" There was an answering growl from the Demons, "Very well, double check the streets above." The man walked over to the edge of the platform and stared down the tunnel Cody and Lily had just come out of. He was wearing some kind of armor, as black as night, which covered him from neck to toe. Together the pair pressed themselves as close and as low to the tracks that ran along the tunnel floor to avoid being seen as the man looked in their direction. They were hidden in shadow, but Cody sensed that this man wasn't entirely relying on his eyes to find them. He closed his eyes and imagined that he was nothing. There was nothing that gave him away, nothing to see, hear or feel. Cody and Lily weren't hiding in the subway tunnels. There was nothing to be seen.

"You can't hide forever Child! We will find you!" The man yelled suddenly, his voice echoing in the confined space. Cody felt relief flood through him as the man turned and left. Then anger started to boil up inside of him. He thought the voice sounded familiar…and now when he thought about it he realized that this man had been there in the hotel when Zack was slaughtered, directing the Demons to 'get the other one'. He was the one responsible for his brother's death and now the man was hunting Cody. How had he come so close to finding him? Better yet, why was he after Cody?

Lily nudged him after a moment and Cody got up slowly and started moving again. The gears of his mind were grinding as they tried to piece together everything that had happened and where he fit in all of it. That man had shown up with several Demons to kill his mother and brother, but somehow his mother didn't seem to fit into the scenario his mind was building. The man had said 'There's two of them fools' to his Demons just after they'd killed Zack and the next thing Cody knew was that they were trying to pull him out of the vent he'd escaped into and then blowing it up behind him.

Nothing happened for several days, but then the Demons invaded on the tenth and then that dragon had found where Cody was and nearly succeeded in killing him. If he hadn't lost his father in the mass of people and stopped to look around, Cody would have shared Kurt's fate. Now, several hours later and miles away from where he had gone underground the same man from the hotel shows up and nearly finds him. 'We will find you!' he had said, but the question was why? With all the people on the planet being slaughtered by the Demons, why was Cody receiving such 'special' treatment from the enemy? He briefly wondered if this all had something to do with the sword he'd somehow summoned to his aid earlier or the lone Orc that he had killed with it.

Cody stifled his anger and decided to put all of his unanswered questions off to the side. He had more important things to think of, like getting out of the city alive for starters. Lily and Cody quietly covered the remaining distance to the end of the platform and disappeared into the tunnel where they stopped to breath a sigh of relief once they were a good deal away and out of sight.

"Who is that man looking for?" Lily whispered from behind him as they picked their way through the darkness slowly, being careful not to trip over the main rails.

"I think he's looking for me," Cody replied, slowing down as he momentarily got disoriented by the curvature of the tunnel. They were turning to the right and he held out his arm so that his fingertips brushed against the concrete helping to guide him.

"Why?" Why indeed Cody mused silently.

"I don't know…" They continued silently for awhile, following the curve of the tunnel as it eventually straightened out. Further ahead was the unmistakable light coming from another platform. He hoped that there were no Demons waiting for him there.

"I'm getting a little hungry," Lily whispered after a moment. Cody had stopped to listen hard for anything that might signal trouble, but there was nothing to be heard. With any luck they could stop at this platform and scrounge around for supplies as he too was hungry and thirsty. They needed to maintain their strength if they were going to make it out of the city and it wasn't wise to go long without provisions.

"We'll stop here if it's safe," He replied.

Moments later Cody pulled himself up onto the platform once he was fairly certain that it was safe. There were no Demons to be seen, but the entire place was a mess and it made him feel uneasy. Lily wasn't happy with him at the moment, he had forbade her to come with him and for good reason. The platform looked like it had played host to a slaughter. She didn't need to see this…

Scattered everywhere were abandoned briefcases, laptop bags, jackets and all manner of things people carried with them on their lunch hour. Every last bag or article of clothing was either ripped to shreds or covered in blood. Whatever had happened here, it had happened some time ago. The blood was dark and congealed, even dry in some spots. Still, the stench was pretty bad and Cody covered his nose with his hand as he looked around for anything useful.

Along the opposite wall he spotted several vending machines, many conveniently turned over or busted open. Cody looked around for a few minutes and found a reasonably intact laptop bag, dumped out the notebook computer and brought it over to the vending machines. He hurriedly scrounged around and filled it with bottles of water, bags of chips, fruit bars and anything else that he deemed to be half way decent food. Scarfing down nothing but soda and chocolate wouldn't do them any good in the long run.

Cody rejoined Lily who had been worried about him as he'd taken awhile to return. He slung the laptop bag full of food over his shoulder and pulled the subway map he'd picked up at the station where they'd met out of his pocket and consulted it briefly. They still had a way to go, probably half a day's travel at least, until they were as far south as they could go in the subway system which would take them to the very edge of downtown Boston.

He relayed this to Lily who grimly accepted it without protest. After all the time they had spent underground, Cody knew that she could endure another day in the darkened tunnels if it meant that they would soon be back above ground. That and he knew that she was too tired to protest. Cody promised that they would stop soon and he suggested that they try to find an unlocked maintenance room just off the tunnel. They had passed several of them already.

Cody let his fingertips glide along the wall until they slipped into thin air. He felt the outline of a doorway and groped around for the handle which gave way when he finally found it, the maintenance room was unlocked. Pushing the door inward, he reached inside where a light switch should logically be placed and found it. He whispered instructions to Lily, walked into the room and closed the door behind him and turned on the lights for a couple of seconds in the same motion. He switched them off and opened the door again.

"I didn't see anything," Lily said. Cody had wanted to see if the lights inside worked and whether or not the door blocked the light from shining into the tunnel. They had gotten really lucky. He quickly guided her inside and closed the door behind them. This time Cody flicked the lights on and got a good look around the room.

It was nothing more than a glorified closet really. There were circuit breakers along one wall, electrical piping running overhead, a toolbox in the far corner, a table with several parts, a flashlight and sheets of paper on it and a lone chair. The flashlight might come in handy and Cody snagged it off the table and ensured that it worked. There was enough room in the middle where two people could lie down comfortably though. Making sure the door was now properly locked Cody sat down in the middle of the floor and began unpacking the bag of food.

"What are you Cody?" Lily asked after they had both consumed a fair amount of food and water. The question came out of left field and caught him completely by surprise that he inhaled a bit of the water he was drinking and had to endure a fit of coughing to clear out his lungs.

"What???"

"I saw an adult hit one of those things and nothing happened. You hit that one Orc and it fell backwards and then there was a flash of light and you had a sword…" Lily said in a rush of excitement as she no doubt relived the moment Cody stepped between her and the monster, becoming her protector. So he wasn't imagining things then, Lily had seen everything too.

"I don't know."

"You don't seem to know a lot of things Cody," she replied with a verbal jab, pointing out how he had said the same thing about why that one man was looking for him.

"I was just a normal guy a few days ago, and then while I was having breakfast those Demons busted down the front door and killed my mom and Zack. They almost killed me too, but I just barely escaped" Her eyes widened in sadness and she pulled him closer for a comforting hug.

"I'm so sorry Cody… Your mother and… Zack?" she inquired softly. An image of his brother's face appeared briefly, he was just lounging at the dinner table waiting for Cody to finish and then all of a sudden his head jerked towards the door as the Demons crashed into it.

"My twin brother."

"Oh Cody…" Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to will himself to not cry in front of her. He had to be strong for Lily.

"I lost my dad a few hours before I found you. I have no idea why they're after me or how I did what I did back there…" Cody finished explaining, biting his lip to keep from crying. The physical pain succeeded in chasing away his grief for the time being. Lily was speechless, she just held onto him and cried quietly for him.

"I'm all alone too," Lily started to say after awhile, gauging his reaction before continuing. "I don't think I'll ever see my parents or sisters again. You're my guardian angel Cody, you found me when I needed help and when I needed a friend."

How did you respond to something like that? Cody was overwhelmed by the trust she had invested in him. For the first time in his life, Cody felt responsible for the safety and well being of another human. It was a strange feeling and he could feel the weight of it on his shoulders, but it was also something that he didn't mind either. He liked being needed.

"We should get some rest," Cody finally said, grabbing the empty laptop bag and folding it in half, "Not the greatest pillow, but it'll do." He handed it to Lily who accepted it and lay down. Cody got up to turn the light off and used the flashlight he'd found earlier to find a spot next to her and lie down himself. Cody finally got as comfortable as he was going to get on the concrete floor lying on his side with his back to Lily. She snuggled up against him and together they fell asleep in the darkness of a maintenance room just off a subway tunnel several dozen feet underneath a dying city.

* * *

Zack looked at his frightened brother through the vent cover, knowing that he could do nothing more to protect him now except by giving his life to buy Cody time to get away. There was no other way…it had to be like this.

"Remember me…" Zack bade farewell to his twin as he glanced to his side where one of the monsters he had downed was recovering and rushing towards him. Something snapped inside of him in that moment and power rushed into his body, filling him from head to toe with an intoxicating energy. Zack caught the creature and crashed to the floor, wrestling with it surprised at how he was able to push its arms back. He couldn't get enough space or leverage to punch it while lying on his back so he tried kicking the other monsters in the room to distract the one on top of him. It worked and Zack broke free of the monsters grip, rolling away from it. He'd succeeded in drawing all the attention onto himself.

Before he could get to his feet something extremely hard slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards into the wall by the door. Zack was partially sitting up against the wall, struggling to pull air into his lungs as his breath had been knocked out of him. His hands started to glow and then in a flash of light he suddenly found himself holding a sword that glowed in such a way that it seemed to pull the light in the room into it, rather than radiating its brilliance, leaving everything else looking dull and dark. He glared at the Demons looking down upon him in stunned silence, knowing that he could destroy them easily with this weapon.

"We can't have that now can we?" a man's voice whispered from the doorway as he entered the room and spun around to face Zack. He got a brief glimpse of the owner of the voice, primarily noticing the black as night medieval style armor that covered his body before pain exploded outward from his own chest. The agony was nothing like he'd ever felt before and Zack screamed.

He looked down saw the blade of a black sword sticking out of his chest in disbelief. Reddish pink light surged across the surface of the perfectly smooth surface like static electricity into his body. Pain exploded across his entire body, it felt like he was being burned alive, and Zack screamed again.

When the pain let up, Zack glanced at vent where Cody had crawled into the air ducts, strangely relieved that his little brother couldn't see any of this. Zack felt his body grow cold and the sword that he limply held in his right hand flickered before it vanished.

"Don't just stand around!" The man's voice suddenly said from what sounded like a long way off, "There's two of them fools!"

"Run Cody…run…" Zack whispered with his last breath before he felt something leave his body. Then he knew nothing more as the world around him went dark.

* * *

Cody awoke normally as the dream faded to black. It had all seemed so real, had it really happened? Had he really seen Zack's last minute alive through his older brother's eyes? How though? How could that be possible?

If the dream was real though, it gave him a lot of things to think about. Chiefly among them was the man that he had heard while hiding in the duct and then again back at the subway platform had personally murdered his brother. The other thing that he picked up on was that in his final moments Zack had been thinking about protecting Cody from the Demons and he'd somehow summoned a sword made of bright white light just before he'd been killed. Cody had felt the same power that had rushed through him while defending Lily in the dream inside of Zack.

So they both had special powers? It sounded ludicrous to his scientific mind, but after everything that had happened Cody was beginning to think that there were some things going on that defied science. Zack had had a sword just like Cody's, made of white light rather than golden light like his own. What did that minor difference mean? Heck, what did it all mean?

Reaching into the darkness Cody felt the familiar shape of the flashlight he'd found earlier and clicked it on. Lily was still resting against him and he moved away from her gently to stand up. He would have stayed there next to her, trying to get back to sleep, but he had a full bladder that demanded to be emptied.

"Cody…? Are we leaving?" Lily asked sleepily, looking up at him in the dim light.

"No, I just have to use the restroom. Go back to sleep." Just like that she fell back asleep and he quietly let himself out of the room. He was awake enough to have the presence of mind to look for one of the drains set into the tunnel where he could relieve himself. Cody had no idea how good the Demon's sense of smell was, and having run into them a few stations back he was taking no chances when it came to doing anything that might lure them to him. When he was finished, Cody wiped his hands on his jeans wishing that he could wash them. Hygiene was going to be a problem he realized and they would have to maintain an acceptable level of it in order to keep from getting sick, just like how they would have to ensure they found more food to keep up their strength, if they wanted to make it out alive.

He hesitated before going back into the maintenance room, his thoughts turning to the dream he'd just had. If what he'd seen was real, both he and Zack were special in some way and both of them had summoned swords made of light when they wanted to protect someone else from the Demons. Maybe this strange power was the key to everything. Maybe it was this power that the Demons and that man were so interested in. It didn't look like they wanted to try and use him though Cody thought, given their track record, and so naturally they must be viewing him as a threat, but why? Why was he a threat? He was just a sixteen year old boy…what could he do against an army of Demons?

In the end Cody put the questions and speculation on hold, realizing that his body was still worn out and that he needed sleep. He laid back down next to Lily and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. His mind buzzed with activity for awhile, making it impossible to fall asleep for the longest time, but eventually Cody slipped into unconsciousness where he dreamed of happier days. It was perhaps one of the last times that he slept peacefully for days to come.

* * *

**A/N:** Well what do we have here? Several interesting developments!!! Cody gets a glimpse of the man behind the voice that he heard in his room at the Tipton. Then he has a dream where he sees Zack's death through his own brother's eyes. Now we know without a doubt that someone is pursuing Cody and means to do him harm, but why? Could his strange power have something to do with it?

Also, what does the dream about Zack mean? My longtime readers should know what the deal is if they've read Chaos Demons, but don't worry it'll all be explained more or less by the conclusion of this story. Oh, and I meant to put more about the whole 'dealing with dark confined spaces' phobia's that some people have due to being in the subway, but I left it out since Zack and Cody are well known for crawling around through the duct work at the hotel and getting into all kinds of crazy mayhem in the dark.

Well that's all for now. Just moved to a new FOB now that my class is over with and I don't have much time to work on the story with 12 hour shifts, but I'll do my best. I'm up to Chapter 8 so far and the whole story is starting to heat up so I'm constantly thinking about it!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Till next time! =)


	4. Supply Run

**Chapter Three**

**"Supply Run"**

_"The third stage of a Child's power is extremely impressive, reached when the Child casts asides all doubts and accepts that they will have to take on their opposite numbers among the ranks of the enemy in order to prevail. The Child becomes surrounded by lightweight plate armor, also bound to their soul, capable of withstanding the most severe physical impacts and able to deflect all but the most powerful of negative energy attacks." _– Lord Guardian Taschen 

Cody and Lily emerged from the confined darkness of the subway in the afternoon of the following day, both of them smiling as the warm golden sunshine beat down upon their faces. Despite the sore muscles in his legs and throbbing feet, Cody felt like a million bucks as he stepped out onto the sidewalk breathing in the fresh air and drinking in the sunlight. It was almost too bright outside to see, his eyes adjusted to the darkness after having traveled below ground for two days.

When he could see better, Cody looked around for any signs of danger and thankfully found none. They had indeed made it to the edge of downtown and were now in the less built up areas on the fringe of the city. Across the street was a smattering of small businesses, local offices for law firms and an electronics store. Cody looked towards downtown and felt his stomach drop when he saw the sky line. There were several buildings missing, probably toppled in the initial attack, black smoke rose in multiple places and fires raged out of control in the distance. Most disturbing though was that he spotted several dark shapes circling over downtown, their shapes reminding him of the dragon that had killed his father.

"Come on," Cody said, taking off in the opposite direction. This part of the city didn't look too bad. The streets were littered with several car accidents, debris from looted stores and the occasional fire, but he didn't see any evidence of Demon presence.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, walking faster to keep up with Cody's larger strides. The first thing they needed to do was gather some basic supplies and then find a way out of the city. Cody briefly thought about stealing a car, but he had no idea how to hotwire one and even if he did the streets were blocked. Maybe once they got further from downtown the streets would clear up and he might get lucky and find a vehicle with the keys in it. In the distance Cody spotted a promising sight.

"There," he answered, pointing down the street on the left side at a large squat blue and grey building. Not even a block away was a Super Wal-Mart, the perfect place to find supplies and even if it had already suffered looting, it should have such a massive stock that there was bound to be something useful left. The parking lot was mostly empty and as they reached the front entrance to the building, Cody's suspicions were confirmed. The automatic doors had been forced open and several of the windows displaying sale items had been smashed.

"Anyone home?" Cody called out into the darkened store as he entered cautiously. There was no reply to his call and no sound of Demons rushing towards them. He clicked on the flashlight and quickly led the way towards the travel area and located a pair of large backpacks, wordlessly handing one of them to Lily.

Over the next the half hour Cody navigated the dark labyrinth of isles filling the backpacks with non perishable food, bottled water, a first aid kit, a few bottles of medicine, hygiene items, extra flashlights, batteries, lighters, a map of Massachusetts and anything else that he could think would come in handy. He left just enough room for a fresh set of clothes and instructed Lily to find something to put in her backpack and change into something more comfortable if she wanted.

Cody set off to the men's section and looked for a new pair of jeans as his were ripped and torn. He quickly changed into a new pair, stuffed another into his bag along with extra socks, underwear and another shirt. Lily was perhaps fifty feet away doing the same thing and just as he finished, she announced that she was done as well. Cody brought Lily with him over to the shoe section and she waited patiently as he selected a pair of expensive walking shoes to replace his skater shoes that he had been wearing which were giving him mad blisters.

Satisfied that they had all the essentials, Cody grabbed a box of pop tarts off a nearby display, broke open a twelve pack of soda to grab a couple cans and then sat down on the floor. Lily joined him as they ate a makeshift lunch in the dim sunlight streaming in through the nearby gardening department. As they ate, Cody spotted something that caught his interest in the sporting goods department. Weapons…

Having finished their meal, Cody went behind the counter and checked out the weapons. Most of them were air rifles, paintball guns or bolt action hunting rifles, none of which he deemed useful. There were a few semi automatic handguns though and he picked up one up, seeing that the sales tag told him it took 9mm ammunition. He scrounged around looking for magazines and ammunition, finally finding what he was looking for just as he heard a terrific crash somewhere inside the store.

Cody pulled a frightened Lily down behind the counter with him and clicked off his flashlight. He fumbled with the ammo as he loaded a magazine, trying to be as quiet as possible. Finished, he stuffed the remaining ammo and magazines into his backpack on top of the extra clothes, loaded the full clip and charged the gun like he'd seen done tons of time on television and in video games. It was funny what you remembered in life or death situations.

Several more crashing noises could be heard, the sounds getting closer to them every time. He peered around from behind the counter and counted at least four dark shapes resembling the lone Orc he had encountered two days ago coming right towards them. Lily whimpered as she began to hear their heavy breathing and the strange grunting noises they made to communicate with each other. They knew exactly where the two humans were hidden. The only options were running or fighting and Cody didn't feel too confident against four Demons so they ran for it.

The Orcs roared as they spotted Cody and Lily making a break for the gardening department which led to the outdoors and gave chase. It was the same sound they had made when a sobbing Cody had stood in the Tipton's lobby confronted by a confused Marion Moseby several days prior. Reaching the doors to the gardening department, Cody felt for the handle and tried opening it without success. It was locked... They were trapped!

Cody spun around to face the rushing Orcs, a chill of fear running down his spine, and took aim with the pistol. He'd go down fighting if this was to be his end. He pulled the trigger, feeling firm resistance as nothing happened. The safety! The Orcs were almost on them now and there was no time to fiddle around with the pistol. They pressed their backs up against the doors as though trying to put as much space between them and the Demons.

"Sword, now would be a good time…" Cody muttered, hoping it would hear the desperation in his voice. A sudden rush of power infused him, the same kind he had felt while battling the lone Orc to save Lily. The power seemed to chase away all of his doubts and fears, leaving confidence and determination in their place. His right hand opened of its own accord to drop the pistol and then closed around a shaft of brilliant gold light that illuminated the entire corner of the store that they were in.

The Orcs slowed in surprise as the golden light resolved itself into the same magnificent sword he had wielded days before. It felt so light it might as well have weighed almost nothing and the balance was perfect, heavier at the hilt and base to compensate for the three foot length of the blade. The perfect metallic surface radiated golden light and Cody gripped the hilt with both hands, he knew what he was doing.

"Bring it!" He taunted, rushing forward to meet the Orcs head on. His first kill was a freebie as he had the element of surprise on his side. Cody swung the blade forward and the edge slammed into the Orc on the far left, cleaving him in two with minimal resistance. As it burst into smoke Cody parried a thrust made by a crudely designed sword and whipped his own weapon into a counter attack so fast that the Orc barely had time to raise his sword again. Cody's weapon sliced clean through the Orc's piece of junk and buried itself between the Demon's right shoulder and neck. It cried out in surprise just before it too burst into smoke.

"CODY!!!" Lily screamed, getting his attention as one of the Orcs nearly grabbed a hold of her. She just barely dived away from it in time, leaving the Demon to crash into the door and stun itself momentarily. Though it wasn't designed for it, Cody lobbed his sword at the Orc and grinned in satisfaction as the blade slammed into it dead center pinning it to the wall before it exploded into smoke. That just left one more to deal with.

Cody ran from it and towards his sword, feeling the Orc chasing behind him and approaching from the left. Just before he hit the wall he jumped up as though he were going to run up the wall like in the Matrix, pulled the sword free with his right hand surprised at how easily it came out of the wall, spun around in mid air to his left and brought the sword down and across his body nailing the Orc in the neck. Just as quickly as he had struck it, Cody withdrew the blade and landed at the same moment the Demon crashed to the floor, bursting into nothing. The whole thing reminded him of an early scene where Achilles struck a man in the neck in the newest version of the movie Troy.

Once again it was all over…Cody had killed them all. Just like before, when he and the person he'd wanted to protect was in danger, the sword made of light had answered his call for help and manifested itself. Something else had come with it though, a power that filled him with strength, energy and the instincts of a warrior. There was no other way to explain how he suddenly knew how to use the weapon like he did or move the way he had moved. This power…it was more than just an intoxicating presence. It was something far greater than he had imagined. It gave him the ability to fight back.

* * *

**A/N:** So yeah, a pretty short chapter though it didn't lack action. This was mostly written to get them out of the subway, get supplies and have Cody use his powers again. I hope everyone is ready for Chapter 4, because just like in Chaos Demons, the fourth Chapter of Truth Seeker also shows off a bad ass Cody =) We'll also see some characters making cameo's from Chaos Demons who play a pivotal role in the entire plot.

In other news, I've only written a few paragraphs for the story so I'm still on Chapter 8 atm. Been having a hard time sleeping so I've tried to get as much rest as possible lately. I'm also afraid I've hit a writer's block, I've got Cody into a situation but no idea how to get him out. As far as Halloween goes, I've drawn a blank on what to write. I'm not good with this holiday, especially in a one shot. I wrote a few paragraphs of an idea, but it's not up to my usual standards and I scrubbed it. Sorry everyone, it looks like I won't be adding to the collection as of now, though I do appreciate the invite and I like the idea.

In the meantime I'm trying to get back to writing Truth Seeker, brainstorming on my personal novel idea (which I think I've finally settled on, it's going to be about Jarran's life growing up in the Chaos Realm) and playing with ideas I got from the movie 'Push'.

Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R! Till next time!


	5. The Truth Seeker Is Born

**Chapter Four**

**"The Truth Seeker Is Born"**

_"The fourth and final stage of a Child's power is reached when the third just isn't powerful enough to do the job, essentially manifesting when the Child takes on Dark Realm Lords. They now have full flight capability, though it is limited in use due to how much power it consumes, and their light shaping abilities increase ten-fold. The destructive energies attained at Stage Two are mere child's play compared to what they are now capable of. Stage Four Children of the Light have never been seen before…Pray that they are never needed…"_ – **Truth Seeker Kulmanari Almora**

Thunder boomed in the distance, so loud and resonating that it slammed into Cody and Lily with physical force as they exited the Wal-Mart where they had gathered essential supplies from before being attacked by a scouting party of Orcs. He knew right away that it wasn't naturally occurring thunder, not just because it was a relatively clear day, but because he was feeling something very strange. He had managed to hold onto his newfound power after defeating the four Demons inside and at the moment it was acting very weirdly. Cody felt like his power was acting as a magnet, trying to draw him in the direction of the thunder and at the same time he felt a sick sense of dread passing through him.

Somewhere nearby was a great source of power, it was attracting Cody, and at the same time there was something so completely opposite of greater power that made alarm bells go off in his head. What could that possibly mean? He heard more booming noises which preceded the sound of a violent explosion that sent shockwaves rippling outward shattering windows and leveling poorly built buildings. Not even a block over he watched in horror as a multi-story apartment complex came crashing down.

"What's going on?" Lily asked in confusion, drawing closer to Cody for protection, as they both looked towards the source of the commotion. His survival instincts told him that he should avoid whatever was over there and get out the city as fast as possible, but at the same time he wondered if he might learn something by investigating from a distance. There really was only one way to find out…

"Stay behind me. At the first sign of trouble, run and hide," Cody instructed Lily as he flicked the safety off of the pistol. In theory the gun should have been pretty powerful, but somehow Cody felt weak without the familiar weight and balance of the sword in his hand. As soon as the fighting was over inside of the store, it had faded away again.

"We shouldn't go in there Cody!" She protested, grabbing his left arm to stop him from moving forward. Truthfully he was almost too afraid to find out what was going on, but at the same time he knew that he should go. His power was reaching out to the other power just like his, though the other one was so much greater than his own.

"I have to go, something's calling to me."

"What? What's calling to you?"

"There's a power greater than mine up there, drawing me toward it," Cody explained as best he could since he hadn't told her about the rush of energy he felt enter his body whenever the Demons were around. She just knew that he was different somehow, especially after having seen his sword made of light twice now.

"Ok, just don't do anything stupid…" Lily acquiesced, letting go of him and following closely behind as Cody walked down the street towards whatever it was that was pulling at him. It was eerily quiet now, though he could still feel the both powers so he knew that they hadn't gone anywhere. They were definitely getting close…

As Cody started to turn the corner at a coffee shop he froze. The entire area ahead of him, all of the businesses and apartments had been reduced to a giant pile of rubble. Standing upon a mound of concrete was a boy of around fourteen years of age wearing a suit of armor very much like the one he'd seen on the man in the subway except that the boy's was a brilliant red color, heavily accented and outlined with gold. The air was wavering around him, much like how it does when it rises from a concrete road on a hot and sunny day. Strangest of all though was that he was literally radiating a reddish gold light, almost as though he had an aura around him.

The boy had golden blond hair much the same color as Cody's, though it was much shorter and closely cropped unlike his own unruly mess. He turned his body slightly towards Cody and the sunlight glinted off something that he held in his right hand. With a start Cody realized that it was a sword very similar to his own, the same metallic silver blade of the same length giving off a reddish gold light of its own. The only difference was that this sword had a different cross guard, the ends of it curved to point towards the blade rather than being flat across from one end to the other like Cody's. Cody knew that this boy was just like him and he was about to make his presence known when someone else addressed the boy first.

"I see you haven't gotten any stronger Taschen. Still relying on the twins to defeat me? Pathetic." The voice was cold, cruel and mocking. It made Cody cringe hearing it. He just knew that the owner of it was pure evil.

Following the sound of the voice he suddenly gaped as he spotted the man who had spoken. He was suspended in mid air about twenty feet off the ground on the other side of the demolished area, wearing the exact same suit of black as night armor as the guy who was hunting Cody and he held a sword of his own, though this one didn't radiate any light at all. It was black, just like the one Cody had seen pierce though his chest, well Zack's chest anyway, in the dream he'd had the night before. This man looked to be about twenty five or so and had short black hair that was gelled back to make it spiky.

"Get out of my Realm Ashani!" The boy, Taschen, exclaimed. His voice was a little deeper than Cody would have expected for his age and strangely accented, making him sound like he was from England. Ashani dropped from his position and sailed towards Taschen.

"Make me," He taunted before rocketing forward at unbelievably speed. Taschen leapt into the air and flipped over Ashani. As the evil man slowed to turn around, the boy pulled his left arm back as though he were going to throw a softball pitch. His hand started to glow brightly and then he swung his arm forward, launching a beam of light at Ashani. The blast connected, slamming into the man with full force knocking him through the wall of the very building Cody was half hidden behind. His mind was reeling by this point with the whole laser beams and flying people thing that he was taken by surprise when the entire building shook from Ashani's impact.

He crouched down and pulled away from the corner, attempting to remain out of sight, though by now he was sure that the boy saw him. There was no way Taschen could not see them from here he was hovering in place. Cody was almost sure that he'd seen the boy's eyes widen in surprise. That was when the damaged wall exploded outward and Ashani came flying out through the debris, sword held in both hands as he prepared to deliver a powerful strike.

Taschen dodged out of the way of the initial attack and then parried the next attack. Several seconds passed as the two engaged in a deadly game of high speed swordplay. Even though Cody had only used his weapon twice, he could already follow the movements and techniques of the two fighters which brought him to an ugly conclusion on how this battle was going to turn out. Taschen was pretty agile and fast, but he could tell that Ashani was definitely the stronger of the two as he constantly knocked the boy off balance and was really skilled with the use of his own blade. He flowed from stance to stance, attacking more than he was defending and wearing down his opponent by expending less energy due to how he handled not only his sword, but how he also took advantage of momentum, leverage and kinetic energy with his body.

Abruptly the fight came to an end as Ashani knocked Taschen off balance yet again, this time though he knocked the boy's sword hand away and drove his own blade down into Taschen's chest. The man's triumphant smile turned to an expression of disbelief as the boy fell backward through the air and brought his sword down into Ashani's unprotected side, the blade going right through his black armor to bite into his side.

Taschen crashed into the side of a pile of rubble, coming to rest lying on his back. It wasn't until he lay still that his hand released the sword it was holding. The weapon clanged loudly as it fell on top of the hood of a car half buried underneath brick and concrete. Ashani landed on a strip of still intact pavement, his back turned towards Cody and immediately fell to one knee, his free hand pressed firmly against the injury he'd sustained. Blood flowed unimpeded between his fingers from the deep wound.

"This isn't over for me Taschen, but it is over for you. I was always better than you, always," Ashani said, straining to keep his voice from conveying the pain he was obviously in. Cody knew that a wound that deep would need immediate surgery, if the man even lived long enough to get medical attention. As he spoke, a column of thick dark smoke curled up from the ground to envelop him and when it dispersed Ashani was gone. The dark presence that Cody had felt vanished, leaving just the other power like his.

Cody raced out of his cover over to the boy. He had first aid supplies and he had extra clothes to control the bleeding… He didn't have a ghost of a chance at saving Taschen's life as he came to his side and saw the damage that Ashani's blade had done. The sword had went completely though the boy's chest just below the ribcage, most likely missing the lungs but still doing terrible damage nonetheless. Taschen's blood pooled underneath him and that was the only reason that Cody could see the charred looking surface of the armor around the entrance wound. There was more damage done than just that of the blade.

"Taschen?" Cody said, kneeling down next to him. There had to be something that he could do for the boy, there just had to be! Lily approached cautiously and Cody glanced at her, giving her a meaningful look.

"You don't need to see this…"

"Yes I do," Lily argued, kneeling down on Taschen's other side. His eyes were open and Cody was momentarily startled by their brilliant blue coloring and the flicker of light that passed through them, reminding him of lightning bolts.

"Sorry…couldn't…kill. Not strong…enough," Taschen whispered between shuddering breaths, wincing in pain.

"What is happening?" Cody asked, pushing his thoughts about being insensitive aside, knowing that the boy didn't have much longer to live.

"Invasion. Everyone…dies…"

"Oh my god!" Lily exclaimed, a look of pure terror crossing her innocent face. The information hit Cody hard, but he'd expected something like this after seeing everything the Demons had done, including his own personal experiences.

"What is…I mean I have a power and a sword like yours…" Cody sputtered, unsure of how to ask the burning question.

"The power…is light. You…wield Excalibur…" For a few seconds he was unable to speak. Power of the light? His sword was supposedly 'The' Excalibur, the sword in the legend of King Arthur? Then again, he had thought it looked vaguely familiar.

"Taschen, what is Cody?" Lily asked, slipping her hand into his as he groaned in pain and the effort of talking.

"Cody Martin is the Truth Seeker," Taschen answered without stopping this time. Cody felt a chill run down his spine. 'How does he know my last name? How does he freaking know?', his mind screamed, somehow not able to process this thought into speech. Instead his thoughts turned to Zack and the dream, he had to know if it was real. If Taschen knew his last name, maybe he knew if Zack had the power too.

"My brother, I think he was like us."

"Yes…" Taschen replied, coughing a couple times. Blood ran freely from the corner of his mouth and his eyes widened in pain.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Lily wondered, shedding tears as she brushed the boy's hair off of his sweaty forehead and tried to make him more comfortable any way that she could. Taschen reached up, grabbed Cody by his shirt and pulled him closer.

"You cannot…stop them…without Zachary. You could…try, but…you would…destroy yourself," Taschen struggled to say, his voice getting quieter at every word and his grip loosening. There was a sudden crescendo of noise in the distance, what sounded like the roars of thousands of Demons and Taschen glanced off to the side reflexively, "Stay…alive…RUN" He exclaimed in a gurgle as more blood escaped his lips, his eyes rolled up into his head and Taschen's grip went limp.

Cody couldn't run, he couldn't even move. He just stayed kneeling next to the boy horrified at two important things. He'd been around death with his brother, mother and father, but he hadn't actually seen them die. He hadn't seen them suffer or be in pain before the end, hadn't seen their bodies go limp as their lives faded away. The power that had been gently tugging at him evaporated and Cody was all alone, no longer feeling anything but his own power now. Taschen's armor and weapon glowed softly, almost like they were mourning the loss of their master and then burst into a shower of hundreds of small red sparks and disappeared. He just lay there dead, nothing setting him apart from all the other victims of the Demon invasion in his blood soaked clothing.

This boy knew the answers to all of his questions, had all of the important information, he held all of the keys to locked doors and now he was dead. It wasn't fair, not just about losing the one person who could give him answers but also how he was slain by the evil warrior Ashani. It just wasn't fair! He wanted to cry in sadness and scream in anger at the same time, but instead he just seethed.

"CODY!!!" He looked up at Lily, her voice sounded so far away. Her face was so blurry and he realized that he was crying. She was pointing at something behind him. He turned to see what she was looking at and saw four more Orcs rushing towards them, howling in delight at having spotted prey.

Cody turned around as he stood up dropping the backpack full of supplies, his hands balling into fists. In the back of his mind he knew that he shouldn't fight like this, but at that moment he didn't really care. He let his emotions pour through him unimpeded as he reached out mentally and took hold of his power, imagining himself grabbing a live electrical wire and being filled with electricity. He calmly walked toward the running Demons. These creatures were made of darkness and Taschen had said that the power now coursing through his body was light. It seemed like a fitting thing.

"Fuck. You," Cody cursed angrily at the same moment he commanded his sword to appear. Rather than appearing as a bar of light and forming gracefully like it had the last two times, Excalibur exploded into existence throwing out a shockwave of golden light that toppled all four Demons.

"Four little Demons came out to play with Cody," he hummed to himself as he stood over the nearest Orc which was scrambling around as it tried to get back on its feet. Cody solved that problem by removing its legs in one fell swoop and watched pitilessly as it burst into smoke.

"One lost his legs and then there were three." Excalibur flashed in a beautiful arc just as the next Orc stood up and turned to face Cody. It never saw the blade coming, a whistling noise was the only sign that it was cutting through the air.

"One lost his head and then there were two." Now the others were on their feet facing Cody, both unsure of what to do not having anticipated encountering someone who would fight back so fiercely. He stood poised in a high guard stance, smirking at their fear. Finally the one on the left charged forward and tried to bury its axe in his stomach, but Cody simply sidestepped and dropped Excalibur into its path.

"One lost his other half and then there was only one." The remaining Orc turned and fled. It was all in vain though as Cody gave chase, feeling light as air, running the Demon down in seconds and impaling it through the back. He had no qualms about attacking these creatures while their backs were turned. It was a matter of survival, pure and simple.

"One tried to run and now there are none," He finished humming the tune, "None left to play with Cody."

"CODY!!!" Yes…none left to play, just Cody.

"HELP!!!" Lily screamed, snapping him out of…well, snapping him out of whatever that was. He looked around and spotted Lily as she jumped down off the pile of rubble Taschen's body lay upon and disappeared between mounds of concrete and brick. Just as she vanished from view, a Demon snatched at the air where she had been with large claws on the end of its oversized fingers. It was bigger, taller and uglier than the Orcs. Apparently the bigger they are, the uglier they look…

What the hell could this monster be? Cody briefly wondered this as he ran to intercept the Demon which had jumped down after Lily. It reminded him of the picture of a Troll he'd seen on the cover of an old fantasy novel that he'd read and the name seemed fitting of this creature. Just as he ran around the nearest mound of debris to intercept it, the Troll swiped at him with a wooden club that he hadn't seen it carrying in his haste to protect Lily. In the split second that he'd had to react, Cody rotated Excalibur in front of him so that it was pointing upward with the edge facing towards and away from him. He put all his strength into the sword as the club impacted it, and harmlessly fell away to either side as Excalibur cleaved it neatly in half. He blinked, realizing that he hadn't made a conscious thought to protect himself. Had Excalibur done that all by itself or was it his inherited skills reacting reflexively to the danger he was in?

As the Troll started dumbly at its broken club, Cody slammed the sword into its pale green rubbery stomach all the way up to the hilt. The Demon looked down at him as if trying to figure out what Cody had done, the expression on its ugly face simply saying 'Huh?' He had no choice but to duck and roll out of reach as the Troll swiped at him.

Cody wondered what to do now that Excalibur was lodged in the stomach of the Troll, apparently having not done enough damage to kill it. Then, before he could even think of an idea the sword burst into a shower of golden sparks and vanished like Taschen's had. Excalibur reformed in his hand, catching him completely off guard as it forced his hand open to accept the hilt.

It was Cody's turn to stare dumbly at his weapon, realizing that no matter what he would always have it. It could not be taken from him. It was a part of him like the power that flowed through him. An idea flashed through his mind and Cody sprang into action, dodging around behind the Troll and running up on top of a pile of rubble as best he could while it turned to follow him. Once he got to the top, Cody spun around and leapt through the air. Excalibur flashed in a perfect golden arc as he sailed past the Troll's shoulder. He landed on the other side of it, flexing his knees to absorb the impact and used his free hand to lightly touch the ground in order to steady himself.

The Troll's body fell sideways as its head dropped straight down. They hit the ground at the same instant and burst into smoke. Excalibur flared brighter, almost like it was roaring in victory and then returned to its normal golden glow. It didn't leave him this time, like it had after the previous two times he'd used it. Cody had a strange feeling that the sword had somehow accepted him at last and was now his to command, rather than to be begged for its help when he needed it the most.

He looked around for Lily and spotted her as she pulled herself out of the partially intact ruins of a two story building where she had hidden, the confined space being too small for the large Troll to enter. Despite everything that had happened, he smiled happily. Lily was still safe and he had protected her once again with his powers. Then he frowned, wondering why she was looking at him such an astonished expression on her face.

"What?" He asked feeling irrationally worried that something was wrong.

"Cody," She said his name like it was the strangest name she'd ever heard of and was testing out the sound of it, "You're glowing…" He looked down at his chest, and indeed he found himself surrounded by a soft aura of golden light exactly like Taschen's reddish gold.

"Cool…" Was all he managed to say by way of reply.

* * *

**A/N:** In this Chapter Cody was A) a badass, B) truly epic, C) pretty cool, D) messed up in the head, E) pretty dull and meh!

How was that for bad ass Cody and the appearance of Ashani and Taschen? I absolutely LOVED writing the scene where Cody lost it and started humming that tune while he cut down the four Orcs that jumped him and Lily after Taschen died.

For the readers of Chaos Demons what's the significance in this chapter you might ask? After seeing Ashani and Taschen in CD's timeline, one might wonder where they were or what had happened to them in the Truth Seeker timeline. This explains it pretty well I think, with both the White Knight and Warden dead at this point, it was just an underpowered Cody and Taschen left, and the Lord Guardian had to fight Ashani even though he had no hope of beating him (it's consistent in every story of mine that it takes, at a bare minimum, the combined strength of Zack and Cody to defeat him). This removes Taschen, while providing Cody some answers and a baseline to compare this own power, and also removes Ashani from the story for now as he is severely wounded.

Fear not though, we'll be seeing more of the bad guys soon enough. After all Chiam, the Champion hunting Cody from the start, is still out there plus there are still two more Champions of Chaos that have yet to appear in addition to more powerful Demons hehe!

Hope you enjoyed! Please vote on my new profile poll and don't forget to review! Love hearing from you all!

P.S. I am currently rethinking the Halloween Collection idea, I've decided to do a short tie in with this trilogy. A little cheesy horror staring the Children of Light never hurt anyone =)


	6. Escape From Boston

**Chapter Five**

**"Escape From ****Boston****"**

"Where do we go?" Lily shouted as the two of them ran out into the intersection of the road that they had originally come down earlier when they emerged from the subway system. The Wal-Mart was nearby and Cody took a second to orient himself, remembering something he'd seen from the shopping center's parking lot on the way out just before they had run into Taschen and Ashani.

"Right!" He instructed, glancing back over his shoulder at the mob of Orcs in pursuit, at least twelve of them in all. Cody knew that they'd never outrun them on foot, he had a funny feeling that their stamina would run out before the Demons tired. Their only options were hiding, finding a faster form of transport or turning and fighting. He liked the whole fighting idea, but wasn't sure if he could handle so many Orcs at once especially with Lily in tow. They could use her against him if they got to her while he was busy fighting, like how the Troll had almost done earlier.

Lily wasn't completely helpless though, she picked up and was now carrying the pistol and extra ammo they'd gotten earlier now that Cody had full command of his sword which he still carried in his right hand. He was still glowing too, the air around him wavering as he passed through it, his aura pulsating to constant thrum of power running through him. Just half a block ahead there was a big auto repair shop and he hoped against hope that he would find what he needed in there. Unfortunately they wouldn't have any time to look around with the Demons behind them, not even a hundred feet away. He'd have to fight them…

"Lily hide!" Cody commanded as he slowed down, turned and raced headfirst into the ranks of the Orcs. Excalibur flashed brightly and whistled loudly as it cut through the air, dealing devastating blows to several of the stunned creatures. No human had ever charged them alone like this apparently. Cody sowed confusion among them as he went into overdrive, tearing through them so quickly that his movements were a blur. Dodge, parry, counter attack, roll, attack, duck, thrust, dodge, jump, impale, parry…his mind could barely keep up as he executed a barrage of defensive movements and attacks. Just as quickly as it had begun it was all over and Cody found himself standing alone surrounded by a thin cloud of smoke.

That was when he learned that his amazing power had limits, feeling a wave of exhaustion overcome him. His aura faded away and the power dropped off to a trickle. Somehow Cody knew that he could summon the power back to full strength if he needed it, but since he didn't need it at the moment it was going into some kind of energy saving mode. Excalibur stayed with him though, it didn't seem to be drawing any power from him to exist in physical form. He suppressed a yawn and then trotted over to join Lily who had taken cover behind a car that had crashed into a streetlight on the side of the road.

Cody led them over to the auto repair shop, wordlessly taking his backpack from Lily having forgotten all about it back at the pile of rubble he'd dropped it on to fight. The front door was locked, but this didn't pose much of a problem as the large window proclaiming the business' various services and special deals had been smashed in. He entered cautiously, looking around for any sign of threats before motioning Lily to follow him in. It was decently lit inside the building with the fading afternoon sunlight streaming in through all of the shops windows. Cody found the mechanics office fairly quick and entered, looking around until he spotted what he was looking for. On the wall there were several clipboards, most of them hanging off nails underneath a sign that said 'Work In Progress', but there were a few under another sign that read 'Ready For Pickup'. He squinted to read the makes and models of the vehicles on these clipboards and found an acceptable vehicle. He pulled the keys off the hook, put them in his pocket and left the office.

Cody froze as he heard a faint sound coming from a pile of debris formed by the shattered front window and the broken customer service desk. Lily pulled a small flashlight she had taken from the store out of her pocket and clicked it on, running it all over the pile of debris. They heard the noise again. It sounded like a moan.

"Hello?" Cody wondered aloud, getting no response.

"I think someone's buried under there…" Lily whispered, circling around behind the desk. Cody instructed her to cover him with the pistol and handed her Excalibur. It immediately stopped glowing, as if protesting the action, but didn't fade away. He worked quickly, removing large pieces of the broken wooden desk and shoving computer equipment aside. His fingers suddenly touched something warm and soft that slowly rose and then fell back down. Cody worked quicker now as he confirmed that there was someone buried here, and they were still alive. In moments he had dug the person out.

He looked down at the young man who was covered in dust, his clothing was torn and he was bleeding from several cuts on his arms caused by the shattered glass. Cody worried that something might be broken, wondering if it was safe to move him and then realized that realistically this teen would die without his help. There was no ambulance or trained medical personnel to come to his rescue and he doubted that the Demons would leave him alone. Cody struggled with the young man's weight as he managed to lift him up enough so that he could do a fireman's carry, holding the teen's forearm in his left hand and a leg with his right, distributing the weight across his own shoulders.

"Out the back door," He instructed, thinking that the parking lot behind the building thinking that would be the most logical place for repaired vehicles to be stored while waiting for their owners to pick them up. When they were back outside, Cody instructed Lily to fish the keys out of his pocket and find the pickup truck he'd selected as their escape vehicle.

"Which one is it?" Lily asked in confusion as there were dozens of vehicles in the parking lot, several of them were trucks.

"Hit the unlock button." Seconds later amber colored lights blinked from off to their left and they heard the doors unlock on a newer model navy blue F150. It had an extended cab, or whatever the term was, with a bench seat in the back. Lily opened the doors for him and he set the injured teen down, bending his legs at the knees so the doors could close. Cody hopped up into the driver's seat and a few seconds later Lily climbed into the passenger side.

"Do you know how to drive?" Lily asked, handing him the keys and stowing her bag next to his in the foot wells of the back seat.

"I took six weeks of Driver's Ed in school," he replied, realizing that the bigger and more powerful truck was a much different animal that the small white cars they used in class to learn how to drive. He started the ignition, saw that they had half a tank of gas and then looked over all of the controls, locating the gear selector lever, lights, wind shield wipers and the four wheel drive control. That was good. They could go off road in this thing.

Cody put the truck into reverse and nervously backed out into the parking lot, realizing just how much higher, longer and wider the truck was than the Driver's Ed cars. It also had a bigger blind spot thanks to the extended cab. Once they were far enough out, he shifted into drive and eased into the gas pedal, surprised at how rapidly it accelerated. The cars at school were powered by four cylinder engines he knew, this thing must be a six cylinder.

The tires squealed as he pulled out into the road and tried to get a feel for the steering. With open road ahead, he accelerated and drove down the middle of the street to avoid debris, fires and car wrecks along the side of the road. He heard a pinging noise and they both looked at the center console where they saw a glowing screen displaying a roadmap. The truck had a working GPS system which meant that the satellites in orbit were still functioning. That was lucky.

"In thirty meters, make a u-turn and proceed north for…"

"No thanks," Lily interrupted the digitized female voice of the GPS, reaching over to clear the route destination which was set for the auto repair shop.

* * *

An hour later they found themselves speeding along the highway with Boston fading into the distance behind them. Cody really got a good idea of the amount of damage that had been done to it by the invading Demons as he saw dozens of pillars of black smoke rising from the heart of the city in the rear view mirror as fires raged out of control. The highway was oddly deserted, though they did pass the occasional broken down car sitting on the side of the road.

They passed a number of smaller towns that were also burning and everything along the side of the highway looked like it had been looted. Taschen was right, it was an invasion and no one was safe. There were signs for a big city ahead, but Cody knew the Demons had been there too judging by the fire and black smoke he saw on the horizon. Glancing down at the instrument panel he noticed that the fuel needle had dropped closer to a quarter tank since he first looked at it back in Boston. They would have to stop for fuel soon, but he wasn't sure how they could get gas if there was no power to the fuel pumps.

Lily was crouched down in the foot well of the back seat tending to the teen they had dug out of a pile of rubble back at the repair shop. She had pulled a bunch of clothes out from her bag and put them under the young man's head as a makeshift pillow. Now she was tending to the cuts a scrapes on his face and arms, using supplies from the first aid kit Cody had put in his bad. She cleaned the wounds with alcohol and cloth pads she had found in the aid kit, eliciting gasps of pain as the cold liquid burned when it entered the cuts, before spreading some kind of healing gel over them and then applying bandages.

"You're really good at that aren't you?" Cody said as she climbed back into the front seat, finished with her work. Lily smiled at him, happy to have done something constructive.

"My dad was a doctor as Boston Metro and my mom was an RN. They met at the hospital, got married and had me," Lily explained using the past tense which he picked up on though he didn't detect any sadness in her voice, "They sort of drilled first aid into me over the years."

"That's good. I'm pretty much useless," Cody said, thinking about his lack of any sort of training or experience treating wounds. Lily took the statement as all encompassing though and frowned.

"You're not useless Cody. You're a warrior and you can fight off the Demons."

"We need to stop for gas," Cody changed the subject, not wanting to talk about his newfound abilities right now. He glanced around for a sign and instead spotted a miraculous sight just ahead and to the right. There was a gas station with a truck and SUV parked at it with people moving around filling gas cans. Cody had missed the off ramp for that exit, but that didn't matter as he slowed the truck down to halt and engaged the four wheel drive.

Once he felt the drive train switch over and saw the indicator light up on the instrument panel, he slowly pulled off the highway and traveled down the embankment into a large patch of grassy terrain and underbrush. They bounced along as the truck's wheels traversed several dips and depressions in the ground before it climbed up to meet the road branching off of the exit ramp that led to the gas station. The ride smoothed out as they came back onto pavement and pulled into parking lot traveling towards the pumps. The people from both vehicles were watching him warily and the two men had guns in their hands, standing protectively in front of the two women who had taken over filling the gas cans. They seemed to be using some soft of a manual pump connected to the tanks underneath the station.

"Stay here and lock the doors. If there's any sign of trouble get out of here," Cody instructed Lily as he parked the F150 a fair distance from the other vehicles, left it running and jumped out of the cab. The two men who had had their weapons trained on the truck lowered them slightly as they saw Cody emerge from it with his hands raised to either side showing them that he was unarmed. One of the men was wearing blue jeans, a red flannel jacket and a faded red and white ball cap with a Red Sox logo on it holding a shotgun in his hands. The other man wore khaki pants, a black collared shirt and held a semi automatic pistol like the one Lily had with her.

"What do you want?" The man wearing the flannel asked.

"I just need some gas," Cody said indicating the pump behind the men. That was when he noticed that there were children in both vehicles. No wonder the men were being so defensive. They were protecting their wives and children much like how Cody was protecting Lily, so he decided to use that to his advantage, "I'm protecting the people with me just like you guys are…"

"Alright then, go inside the store and grab a few fuel cans." Cody immediately jogged over and went in through the smashed open doors crouching slightly to avoid the edges of broken glass. After a moment of searching he found several five gallon plastic fuel containers and managed to carry four of them, two in each hand, knowing that the truck had a big fuel tank.

"Where are you from kid?" Flannel man asked again as Cody returned with the fuel cans and set them down next to where the women were finishing filling theirs.

"Boston."

"Bullshit! That place is crawling with those monsters," the other man exclaimed, looking off in the distance toward Cody's home.

"So is our town Dave," Flannel said somberly, gesturing to Cody that he could begin filling his gas cans. In rapid succession Cody filled the cans, brought the F150 closer, shut it off, filled it up and then topped off the cans again at the encouragement of the men and finally placed the four full cans into the bed of the pickup.

"I'm Tim and this is David," The flannel man introduced himself, "We're taking our families to Philly. What about you?"

"Cody," he said, shaking both men's hands, "I'm not sure where we're going. My plan ended at getting out of Boston."

"Well you might as well come with us to Philly then Cody," Tim advised.

"What's over there?"

"Turn on your radio to…101.5 I think it is," David said, glancing upward as he tried to remember, "They're holding out in downtown."

"They've got a National Guard unit there that was getting ready to deploy to Iraq and is helping to hold the city along with SWAT, Police and volunteers. They also have heard rumors that an Army Battalion from Fort Drum is moving down from New York to join them, apparently their base got overrun." Cody felt a glimmer of hope pass through him as he heard that there was some place safe to go to and with all that fire power and Cody's own abilities…

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed, thinking about the safety of Lily and their passenger.

"We should get moving and put some miles in before it gets dark. They say not to travel at night, something about a different kind of monster that comes out only when it's dark out that is extremely deadly and hard to kill." Tim said, checking the time on his watch, "Hurry and grab whatever you need from the store Cody, we'll wait a few minutes for you, but then we've gotta move."

Cody summoned Lily out of the truck to help him get more supplies. He dumped a thirty two pack of bottled water into the truck's bed and stowed another first aid kit in the backseat as Lily put a couple of baskets full of canned and boxed food next to the backpacks in the back seat. He started up the truck, switched back into two wheel drive to save on gas and fell in behind Tim's Dodge Ram and in front of David's Chevrolet Trailblazer as they all pulled out of the station and back onto the highway,

The world outside was soon passing by in a blur as the small convoy raced along the highway in excess of one hundred miles per hour south along Interstate 95. Cody had been concentrating hard on driving as he had never gone that fast before, but eventually he became more comfortable with it and allowed himself to relax a little. He still felt a bit nervous about the fact that they were headed straight for New York City, one could only imagine what had happened there…

As night fell, they pulled off the highway at a small Best Western on the outskirts of a place called New Haven. Apparently Tim and David were serious about not traveling at night because of the mystery Demons that came out when it was dark out. Cody didn't really mind either, he was really tired and by staying here overnight they would be able to tackle New York in the morning.

* * *

**A/N:** Woot, Cody and Lily have wheels now! So in this chapter Cody discovers that his powers have limits and sees the extent of the damage done by the invasion. Together Cody and Lily rescue a young man from the dying city and make a break for it eventually finding other survivors. Philadelphia sounds like it has the promise of safety, but with everything that's been happening is there really any safe places left to go to?

We're left wondering the identity of the rescued stranger, whether or not Cody and his companions will make it safely to Philly and what will happen to them if they get there... Stay tuned, because **Chapter 6: The Long Night** is going to be a bit of a doozy.


	7. The Long Night

**Chapter Six**

**"The Long Night"**

After having made sure that the motel was safe, the men all parked their vehicles in front of the rooms they had selected mostly out of sight of the highway and the other motels, gas stations and fast food places at their exit. Demons weren't their only concern as David pointed out to him that people became stupid in crisis situations and were prone to turning against each other and looting supplies from the people that had them.

Cody carried the injured young man into the room that all three of them would share, struggling with his weight and set him down on the bed closest to the window once Lily had pulled back the sheets so that they wouldn't disturb him by coming and going through the front door. He went back out to the truck and brought the backpacks, a few bottles of water and one of the baskets of food they had gotten at the gas station inside. After locking the door and standing his flashing up on the table pointed at the ceiling so that it created a good deal of ambient light in the room, Cody flopped down on the remaining bed with a deep sigh of relief. Finally a chance to rest after an incredibly hectic day! They weren't planning on leaving until eight in the morning.

He turned his head to the side and watched as Lily tended to the teen they'd found buried under a pile of rubble. She methodically checked his bandages, took his temperature with a thermometer she had found in the bigger of the two first aid kits and then opened one of the bottles of water Cody had brought inside. Lily tilted the teen's head up with one hand and held the bottle up to the his lips, letting it slowly trickle into his mouth. After he'd consumed about a third of the bottle Lily stopped, pulled her flashlight out, peeled open his eyelids and shone the light in his eyes checking for pupil dilation.

"How beautiful!" Lily gasped, staring in wonderment at the stranger.

"Huh?" Cody wondered aloud, rolling over and getting to his feet to see what had amazed her. Lily shone the light in the teen's eye again and Cody saw the pupil constrict, but he was distracted by the incredibly vibrant shade of green surrounding it. It reminded him of Taschen's insanely blue eyes minus the bolts of lightning of course. An image of the boy's broken body, soaked in his own blood, came to mind unbidden and Cody pushed it away not wanting to remember him like that.

"So how is he Doc?" Cody asked as he went over to the small table in the corner of the room and set out a couple bowls of microwavable beef stew and a box of Cheeze-Its.

"He'll be fine, there's nothing really wrong with him. I think he just got hit pretty hard in the head." Lily answered, seeing what Cody was doing and came to join him at the table.

"Shame he didn't have a hard head like Zack," He replied, feeling a small smile tug at the corners of his lips, remembering his brother's stubbornness.

"Zack's your twin right?"

"Yeah and he could be so stubborn sometimes, even about the stupidest things. That's how he died I guess…" Cody muttered, pausing in the process of eating his stew to stir the contents of the bowl lazily with the plastic spoon he held. He saw Zack slide out of the duct in his mind and then get thrown to the floor by the Orcs in their bedroom. He'd recovered quickly and fought the Demons, buying Cody time to escape by distracting them.

"You can tell me Cody…if you feel up to it," Lily said in a concerned tone, giving him an opening to talk about it or just let him have his space for now. She reached across the table and her right hand slipped into his left.

"He had a chance to escape with me," Cody finally said, remembering how Zack had rolled away from the Orc that had thrown him down and ran over to the vent, slamming it shut and saying goodbye. He would have made it! Well…he might have made it and Cody became unsure of himself. "But rather than take it he protected me until the very end, distracting the Demons and buying me time to escape."

In his mind Cody saw Zack surrounded by a dim aura of white light lashing out with his good leg to deliver a devastating kick to the head of one of the Orcs followed up by a pair of punches, one from each fist. He'd lashed out in every direction, giving as good as he'd got for several seconds before he was knocked out of Cody's view. Wait a minute! Cody halted his memory and rewound it like it was a scene in a movie until he paused it, seeing Zack surrounded by a dim aura of white light.

"What is it?" Lily wondered after he had apparently ignored whatever she had said, his eyes fixed on a spot on the wall behind her with an unfocused stare. She came around to stand in front of him, cupping her hand under his chin and lifting his gaze so that it rested upon her face.

"Zack was using his powers to defend me. I didn't realize it until just now." He answered in an astonished voice.

"Taschen said that your brother was like you didn't he?" Lily asked, confused as to why Cody thought Zack using his powers to defend him was strange given that he had first exhibited his own abilities while protecting her.

"Yes, but…" He wasn't sure how to interpret the dream he'd had down in the subway. "I had a dream last night and I was reliving the entire thing, except that this time I was Zack. It was so real. I felt like I was him! I remember feeling the pain he endured, hearing his thoughts about my safety, feeling his anger, his fear and above it all I remember feeling power surge through his body. It was the same power as mine, he had an aura like I do now and just before that man chasing us killed him I felt a different sword form in his hand. Zack was about to clean house, just like I'd done back in Boston right before we escaped and then the man overpowered him…" Cody said in a rush, his initial hesitation vanishing as his voice grew in strength until the last few words when it became soft and he looked down at the floor.

"Do you think it was real?"

"I didn't think it was when I woke up, but now that I remember Zack glowing just before I lost sight of him…I don't know." Cody desperately wanted the dream to have been true, despite the grim ending. He wanted to think that if Zack had had to die, that he would have gone down fighting. It was so typical of him, not to give an inch when he made a stand for or against something that he truly cared about, including his baby brother.

"Maybe it was. They say that twins share a special connection."

"Yeah, we did. I loved Zack, he was my brother and my best friend. We didn't always get along perfectly, that's what you would expect of siblings, but I wouldn't have traded him for anything in the world."

"That's so sweet." Cody smiled as he remembered his mother, Maddie, Max and Barbara telling him what a nice person he was and how he was doing sweet things, caring about the welfare and happiness of others before himself. Zack had once accused him of being selfish when they were younger, it had been some stupid argument and the absurdity of it made Cody burst out laughing which soon ended the fight because Zack couldn't figure out what was so funny and eventually gave into his own fits of laughter. On that fateful day however, when the Demons burst into their suite, Zack had been the selfless one.

"I wonder what his story is," Cody said at last, deciding to change the subject, nodding his head toward the teen sleeping soundly by the window. He felt better after talking to her, but for the moment he needed some space again. Lily picked up on this and sat back down to start eating dinner.

"Me too, I hope he wakes up soon," She agreed, and then she grinned devilishly, "He is pretty handsome." Cody simply nodded as he went back to his own meal. He wasn't one to judge how other guys looked, but he could see why Lily would think that with the teen's short white blond hair which was black at the roots and had streaks of black running through it here and there on top of the incredible green eyes.

"Something banged him up pretty good, I'm amazed that he lived after going through that glass into that counter. Not a single broken bone." Cody said analytically, remembering how the teen had been buried under the ruins of the service counter. He wondered why the young man had been there at all, so close to where Ashani and Taschen had been fighting. Who, or what, had knocked him into the auto repair shop and why didn't they finish him off? He hadn't seen any of the Demons or the men in black armor offer mercy to anyone. Everyone that had run into them had died. Everyone except Cody and Lily, so far as he knew…

"Some people just get lucky." Lily shrugged off his concerns. "Lucky like how you found just when I really needed you."

"Yeah…" Cody trailed off, now munching down on the Cheeze-Its having finished his stew. He stared at the other young man for awhile, mindlessly popping the flat square snacks into his mouth, not really believing in luck.

Eventually he went into the bathroom to see if there was any running water, hoping that there was a nearby water tower providing pressure and was pleased to see that there was. Cody brought a change of clothes into the bathroom and took a quick cold shower, using the free little bars of soap and bottles of shampoo since he hadn't thought to grab anything at the store. He doubted that he would use up all the water, but he still hurried to finish mainly because he didn't want to leave Lily alone in the room with the teen they had rescued and also because it was damn cold.

* * *

Cody gently turned over onto his other side, unable to sleep and not wanting to disturb Lily who was sound asleep. All of the rooms in the hotel only had two beds and he'd been the perfect gentlemen, opting to sleep on the floor and leave the bed to her. Lily wouldn't have any part of it, reminding him that they'd already slept together down in the subway and that with all that had happened to them, such concerns seemed trivial.

He didn't know why he couldn't sleep though and it bothered him. All of the fighting he'd done that morning and afternoon had exhausted Cody and made him really hungry. It seemed that although this newfound power, the power of light as Taschen had called it, was an endless source of energy, it didn't come without drawbacks. Cody felt like his body was a bridge between wherever the power came from and the real world around him, passing through him like a conduit. Harnessing this power had given him great abilities, but had worn him out more and more the longer that he had used it. It seemed that it was burning up the chemically created energy in his body in order to be…what? Exploited? Used?

Eventually he fell into a state where he wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep, where the body rested but the mind was still abuzz with activity. He eventually decided that he must be asleep because he felt someone shaking his shoulder urgently trying to awaken him. Cody was slightly angry, after a couple of hours of staring at the ceiling he was finally starting to drift off to sleep… He shut his eyes tighter, trying to ignore whomever it was attempting to wake him.

"Cody you need to wake up!" Zack said, a sense of urgency in his voice. A chill raced down Cody's spine and his whole body turned as cold as ice. His eyes shot open and he sat up so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. Cody looked around the dark hotel room, expecting to see Zack standing over him and feeling disappointed when no one was there. He could have sworn that it was real, could have sworn that he had felt the warmth and pressure of Zack's hand against his shoulder, but there was no one in the room besides himself, Lily and the young man in the other bed. Something was wrong though, Cody was sure of it.

He felt an unnatural sense of terror and wasn't sure what as causing it. It felt as though the air in the room had become oppressively stuffy, making it harder to breathe. Cody resisted the urge to hyperventilate and looked down at his arms which were now covered in a cold sweat, in fact his whole body had broken out into a cold sweat. What the hell was going on?

Then the pieces of the puzzle started coming together as he recognized what he was feeling. The first two times he'd felt this…whatever it was, he had only been distantly aware of it and couldn't place it. After running into the battle between Ashani and Taschen, he'd felt the powerful energy of the evil black armor clad murderer rolling off of his body in waves. Compared to the energy in Taschen, Ashani's power carried a taint with it. That was the only way Cody could describe it, the other power was like good tasting food that left behind a horrible after taste. He knew the first two times he had felt like this, he was sensing the darker power of the man hunting him who had been at the Tipton and then came looking for him in the subway tunnels.

The darker power was associated with the two men in black armor who seemed to be able to command the Demons and fight with impressive strength and skill. Fear gripped him, constricting his chest, as he suddenly came to the conclusion that one of the men had found him. Up until now the power of the light had been hiding just outside of his sight. Cody was reminded of standing on the beach at the ocean, the tide out to sea, watching to see if the struggling waves would reach all the way up the wet sand where they had dominated hours ago, the tiniest sliver of salt water tickling his toes before going back out to sea. Now though, without conscious thought, those little slivers of ocean became tidal waves slamming into the beach with full force. He quickly got out of bed and stood up.

Wave after wave slammed into Cody as the power of light filled him from head to toe with its wonderful energy, making him feel unnaturally strong and confident. The tainted power he felt receded a little, but it was still there very near to him, growing in strength matching his own and then exceeding it. Where was it coming from? It was driving Cody mad with a combination of fear and anger. Where?

He turned his head toward the bed by the window looking where the young man they had rescued was sleeping, except that he wasn't there. Panic…uncertainty… Simultaneously his golden aura burst into existence, the sudden flare of brilliant light illuminated the whole room as Excalibur appeared in his hand and leveled itself at the teen with the white blond hair and unnaturally green eyes. While the entire room was lit up as bright as day, the teen somehow seemed to be standing in shadow, Cody's aura of light failing to reach him. The golden light was bending around the young man, like it was refusing to touch him or rather like he was doing something to repel it outright. How did you repel light???

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" The teen said, producing a sword not unlike the one that had went through Zack's chest and leveling it at Cody in the fraction of a second it took him to blink. Excalibur vibrated in his hand as though it had been struck, somehow sensing the other blade so close to it.

"Who are you?" Cody demanded, surprised at the firmness in his voice. At hearing his voice, Lily groggily woke up asking what was wrong. Then she gasped as she saw the two of them standing with swords trained upon each other and scrambled to get behind Cody.

"My name is Jarran…"

"That's not what I mean! WHAT are you?" Cody interrupted, shifting his weight and changing his stance for better balance. Jarran cocked his head to the side as though he hadn't heard Cody correctly. He seemed generally confused by the question.

"I am a Child of Darkness and a Champion of the Chaos Realm, just as you are a Child of Light and a Champion of the Earth Realm. Am I correct?"

"What?"

"You are the Truth Seeker are you not?" There was that title again… The words meant nothing to him, and yet Cody felt that it held some sort of significance.

_"Taschen, what is Cody?" Lily asked, slipping her hand into his as he groaned in pain and the effort of talking._

_ "Cody Martin is the Truth Seeker," Taschen answered without stopping this time. Cody felt a chill run down his spine. 'How does he know my last name? How does he freaking know?' _

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Gold," Seeing that Cody did not seem to understand his cryptic answer, Jarran shook is head in dismay and explained in detail. "The Truth Seeker is always gold. The White Knight is, oddly enough, always white. The Guardian and Warden are red and blue respectively."

"You mean…the color of my light?"

"No. The color of your shoes!" Jarran exclaimed sarcastically in exasperation. "Yes your light. Good lord do you not even know who you are?"

"I…" Cody started to say…say what? What could he say? That he had no idea who or what he was? He somehow knew that this was one of the first rules about dealing with an enemy. Information is a powerful tool and you don't let your enemy know that you lack it. You have to bluff, make it seem like you knew more than they did while trying to gain information without appearing too. Unfortunately Cody had paused, long enough for Jarran to see through him.

"You don't know…" Jarran whispered, sounding genuinely awestruck. "Except for you The Children of Light are all dead now, including your twin brother." Surprise and rage boiled through Cody when he heard those last words. Did that mean Jarran had been there in the Tipton? Had this teen standing before him helped kill his brother?

"How the fuck do you know about Zack?!" Cody's voice wavered slightly, his fear, rage and frustration bleeding into his voice. Jarran seemed to stare upward for a moment as if recalling something before answering.

"Two of the souls travel together always. They enter the mortal world at the same time, almost always as brothers or sisters…" When Cody said nothing further and continued staring at him, Jarran just muttered something under his breath. It sounded like he said something along the lines of, "It can't be possible…he's completely ignorant."

"We treated your wounds!" Lily suddenly piped up from where she had been standing silently behind Cody, watching the rather one sided exchange of words. "Boston is crawling with monsters now, we saved your neck back there." Jarran briefly glanced at the bandages on his arms which covered the worst of his scrapes and cuts, before looking back up as she finished her sentence in shock.

"Those 'monsters' are the Chaos Demons. I am a Champion of Chaos, they follow my orders. I was never in any danger." Jarran said matter of factly.

"Then you're responsible for Zack's death!" Cody accused, steadying his sword and his resolve firmed.

"No, I am not. Another Champion is responsible for eliminating the Children of Light. Obviously he failed to kill you."

"Then what were you doing in Boston?"

"I was on my way to help my…help Ashani fight Taschen, but the Guardian found me first." He almost swore that Jarran was blushing with embarrassment. Cody also didn't miss that he stuttered, concealing what he had meant to say with something else.

"You mean he surprised you and knocked you out cold?" Cody asked neutrally, though he could tell Jarran took it as an insult by the way he clenched his teeth.

"Taschen's dead. Who is laughing now?"

"How would you know? You were buried in a pile of rubble while they were fighting…"

"Because Ashani was always more powerful than him! You saw the fight personally, I can see it in your eyes. I bet it was pretty one sided?"

_Abruptly the fight came to an end as Ashani knocked Taschen off balance yet again, this time though he knocked the boy's sword hand away and drove his own blade down into Taschen's chest._

_ The sword had went completely though the boy's chest just below the ribcage, most likely missing the lungs but still doing terrible damage nonetheless. Taschen's blood pooled underneath him and that was the only reason that Cody could see the charred looking surface of the armor around the entrance wound. There was more damage done than just that of the blade._

"Look, forget about all of that. We saved your life! That building could have collapsed, crushing you. You could have suffocated under all those debris. You could have burned to death by all of the fires. Why can't you just go away and leave us alone?" Lily interrupted their verbal sparring, pleading with Jarran. Suddenly Cody saw him drop his blade slightly and he matched the movement. If what he'd said was true, Jarran had no personal hand in killing either Zack or Taschen and so far he'd done nothing more than match Cody's escalation of force. He seemed open to reasoning, and if he'd leave without a fight, Cody was willing to let him go as he was concerned about what might happen to Lily and the other survivors here at the hotel with them should they start fighting.

Seeing Cody match his move, Jarran slowly lowered his blade and Cody copied him. Finally they just stood looking at each other with their weapons pointed at the floor.

"So you did," Jarran finally relented, addressing Lily directly before looking back to Cody. "I would have expected you to kill me while I was helpless…"

"I didn't know what you were then. We just saw that you needed help and we helped you." Jarran nodded in understanding. His blade seemed to waver briefly and then it faded away into a thick wisp of black smoke.

"What is your name Truth Seeker?" Cody was so startled by this turn of events that it took him a moment to find his voice.

"Cody…Cody Martin."

"Well met Cody." Jarran said, inclining his head toward him slightly. "Today I depart in your debt, I shall not forget it." Dark smoke suddenly appeared around Jarran, clinging to him and then before his very eyes Cody saw it form the same style of impressively designed black armor that Ashani and the other man wore. More smoke appeared behind him; he turned around and walked into it, looking over his shoulder at them.

"A word of advice… Just as you can no doubt feel my presence, I can feel yours Cody Martin. It would be wise, if you wish to continue eluding Chiam, not to use your powers." The smoke thickened before dispersing with startling suddenness, leaving Cody and Lily standing alone in the room. Jarran's advice seemed completely true, every time he'd used his powers he had run into one of dark warriors. It was time for them to leave…

* * *

**A/N: **Bwahahaha! Surprise! It's Jarran! tiger002 asked me to include him in the story and I found a good place for him =)

If you've read Reflections you'll know that Jarran is quite a powerful Champion of Chaos, but in this story which takes place two years prior you have to remind yourself that he is only fifteen and lacking his unique abilities. I absolutely love this character because he has such an interesting background that will be the basis for my novel (we haven't seen it yet in any of these fanfics) and he is deeply flawed and conflicted.

So where does this leave Cody? He's just aided the enemy and who miraculously decided to leave peacefully, leaving Cody with a lot of information to churn and a dire warning. If he wants to continue eluding the Champions of Chaos, he has to cease using his powers...but in a world nearly overrun with Demons how will he manage to do that?

Philadelphia and an uncertain future loom on the horizon. There are still many Demons that Cody hasn't encountered yet and sooner or later Chiam is bound to catch up to him.

The future is rife with possibilities and dangers...

What is going to happen to our hero?

Stay tuned!


	8. The Battle For Philadelphia

**Chapter Seven**

**"The ****Battle**** for ****Philadelphia****"**

_On the ground I lay  
Motionless in pain  
I can see my life flashing before my eyes  
Dead I fall asleep  
Is this all a dream  
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare  
I will not die (I will not die)  
I will survive_

_  
"Time of Dying" by Three Days Grace_

The City of Brotherly Love loomed ahead as the small convoy headed into the heart of the city with Cody leading the way following the directions that were being broadcasted on the radio via the GPS mounted on top of the dash. It was late afternoon, but thanks to Cody's insistence that they leave early they hadn't had to stop again for the night anywhere else. According to the route information being displayed, they were almost there.

Sure enough they soon found themselves approaching an area of downtown where abandoned vehicles had been pushed together to create barriers, blocking off side streets and alleys. Ahead on the main road was a security checkpoint being guarded by a squad of Army soldiers with several of them manning the weapon systems in the turrets of their up armored Humvees. Cody saw one of the soldiers report their arrival over a radio mounted inside a gun truck as he pulled to a stop, feeling nervous with all of the firepower at the checkpoint pointed in his general direction.

"Welcome to Philly," a soldier said, coming up alongside of the truck. Cody looked at the Velcro patches on his body armor, his last name was Kressler and he was a Sergeant of some type. Cody wasn't sure what the three chevrons and a pair of curved lines meant exactly in Army ranks. Another soldier came to stand next to him, pen and notebook in hand and Cody had no idea what his rank was; it was a solid black upside down teardrop.

"We'll need your full name, age, blood type, social security number…if you know them," Sergeant Kressler paused for a second, seeing that they were only young teenagers, "City of origin, that's where you came from when the invasion started and the last known status of your city if we don't already know it. Also, if you've seen any Demon activity on your way into the city, we want to know about it."

Cody and Lily gave Kressler as much information as they could, the solider next to him jotting it down and then he waved them through, telling them to pull ahead and wait for the other two vehicles. He said that someone would be over in a moment to guide them. After a couple of moments, Tim and David's vehicles pulled ahead and then another person came up alongside of the truck.

"I'm going to guide you in bro," a young man with short brown hair and hazel eyes not much older than Cody said before he climbed into the back seat of the truck. "Matt Pelky, I'm a volunteer." He introduced himself. Cody followed Matt's directions and they moved slowly through the heart of downtown.

Cody was surprised at how many people were here. Everywhere he looked he saw soldiers at first and then as they entered the living area as Matt called it, they began to see police officers everywhere mixed in with regular civilians. The volunteers were all hard at work strengthening the fortifications in the area, unloading supplies from large military vehicles and storing them in several guarded buildings. He was amazed by the human spirit in this place, so many people working together for mutual protection and survival, that he began to feel hope again.

"Alright, let's get you all some rooms," Matt said, exiting the truck as they parked outside a large hotel. Cody was reminded of the Tipton as he stared up it. With amazing speed Matt found rooms for them and after giving out some information he joined Cody and Lily in their room.

"So where are you two from?"

"Boston," Cody answered as he surveyed the room, seeing nothing more than your typical two bed room.

"Wow, you're lucky. Boston got hit hard, no one else here is from there that I know of." Cody nodded grimly, remembering how many Demons he had seen in the streets, the dragons flying overhead and then the three Children of Darkness as Jarran had identified himself, Ashani and the man pursuing Cody who was apparently called Chiam.

"So what's the world like?" Matt shook his head and Cody felt his spirits fall.

"The Demons struck all around the world simultaneously hitting the biggest cities first and then worked their way outward. Latest intel says that South America and Africa are already lost. Australia's gone quiet, Japan and the United Kingdom are holding on barely since they can concentrate their military power more effectively than most other nations. We heard Russia and China are struggling with them, they have the numbers to fight, it's just that their countries are so large and the Demons are destroying mass transit systems like railroads and those dragons are taking down planes here and there."

"Oh man…so what about us?"

"Most of the major cities are gone now…I think it's just Philly, Manhattan, Los Angles, Dallas and Miami that are still holding out. Last we heard the President is aboard Air Force One at high altitude trying to coordinate our military's efforts. He's taken full executive power and declared martial law…"

"I can't believe this…"

"Cody, early estimates say that we've already lost half of the American population…"

* * *

Matt had stayed for awhile longer bringing them up to date on what was going on in the nation and giving them information about their camp in the heart of the city. After that Cody decided to take a nap, exhausted from driving all day, his mind mulling over all the bad news Matt had given them. Where at first he had felt hope when arriving in this camp, Cody began to fell that hope fade away. The entire world was crippled and under siege and it seemed that only the more powerful nations were able to hang on.

He must have fallen into a deep sleep because he was awakened by Lily shaking him and it took a moment for him to realize someone was banging on the door. Tired, but quickly feeling his strength return Cody jumped out of bed just as Matt shouted his name through the door. When he opened it, he saw the young man had an assault rifle slung around on his back with another held in both hands.

"Can you fight?" Matt asked without preamble. That was when Cody became aware of the shrill tone of an alarm going off outside and the distant sound of continuous gunfire. The Demons were on the attack… Cody nodded and Matt handed him the M4, giving him a crash course on its operation. He gave him two extra magazines and told him not to waste ammo shooting at any dragons or Wraiths which he explained were some type of ghost Demon and bullets went right through them. The only thing that hurt them was bright lights.

"You should stay here Lily, it'll be safer," Matt told her as he saw her grabbing the pistol. She gave him a disbelieving look before coming to stand next to Cody.

"The safest place for both of us is to be right next to him," She said looking up at Cody with confidence. Soon the three of them were on their way to a nearby defensive position that was under attack. The vehicle barricade had been smashed open, most likely by the dead Troll that was lying on the ground inches away from it. Orcs poured through the breach, moving around and over the Troll pouring into the street. The defensive line was already crumbling and half of its defenders were already down, with only a handful of police officers still standing.

"Hit the breach, slow them down!" Matt instructed as they took cover behind a wrecked car and aimed their M4's over the hood. Cody did his best to aim at the breach, switched to Semi and opened fire with controlled pairs aiming at center mass like Matt had told him to do. He immediately saw several of the Orcs in the center stagger and go down hard. They didn't burst into smoke, it seemed as though there were only severely wounded, but their bodies piled up making the Demons behind them have to crawl over them.

The police retreated to Matt and Cody's line and handled the ones that had already broke through. Cody heard the roar of approaching vehicles and turned to look over his shoulder as a pair of gun trucks skidded to a halt, their tires screeching on the pavement from the sudden stop. The guns mounted in the turrets started firing into the breach and they deafened Cody, but it was a small price to pay for the extreme amount of fire power that they delivered. He watched as Orc's were torn to pieces before bursting into smoke. Their charge withered and then they started to fall back.

"Yeah! Fifty cal's!" Matt whopped, his voice oddly low to Cody's ears, "Get some bitches!" Looking above the retreating Orcs, Cody swore that he saw something shimmering in the air and pointed it out to Matt.

"WRAITHS!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Before anyone could react, the ghostly creatures raced past and attacked the gunners. Their weapons went silent as they were slashed by the demonic creatures' claws and then there were screams from inside the trucks as they killed the soldiers inside. Spotlights mounted on a nearby corner store swiveled around and flooded the Humvee's with blindingly bright white light as the Wraiths left the vehicles. A few managed to veer away, but the majority of them shrieked loudly and turned into smoke.

"They're coming through!" One of the cops shouted and what was left of the defenders opened fire. Cody felt the M4's bolt lock open as he ran out of ammunition, he'd used up all of his magazines. Matt cursed as he too went empty. The Orcs were getting close now and the diminished firepower wasn't able to push them back. He heard several loud cracking noises splitting the air and saw several Orcs drop from hits to the head. There must be a sniper team somewhere close covering them.

"We've gotta get on those guns!" Matt pointed at the trucks behind them, but even as he said it they were forced to fall back as the Orcs overran their position and the gun trucks too. The situation looked bad and Cody reached out to his power and pulled it into his body. He charged towards the Demons even as everyone else ran from them, energy filling his body to the breaking limit.

"CODY NO!" Matt yelled, watching in disbelief. His aura surrounded him with golden light and Excalibur flashed into existence, roaring in delight as it sent out a loud thunderclap announcing its arrival.

The first Orc to die by his blade had jumped off the hood of one of the gun trucks at him and had been caught in its midsection by Excalibur. Cody went into a high guard, paused as several of them closed in around him and then twisted to the right, bringing the sword down and sweeping it in an arc across his chest to the left cutting down four more Demons.

Cody leapt up onto the hood of a gun truck, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the Orc that had climbed up to meet him, knocking it backwards into its companions and then slashed downward as they charged at him from all sides, decapitating several of them in the process. He felt himself getting caught up in the elegant dance of combat, moving his feet to avoid getting tripped up as he swung Excalibur rapidly from one side to the other, cutting down all challengers.

"King of the hill!" Cody taunted them as he climbed up on the roof of the vehicle, forced back by the sheer number of Orcs swarming him. Most of them, if not all, were totally ignoring the few remaining human defenders to come at him. Several of them were cut down by gunfire. He moved back and forth as the Demons crawled up on top of the hood and the rear hatch, lashing out at both groups.

As he was dealing with a few that had climbed up the rear and gotten too close to him, he became aware of two Orcs standing up on the front edge. Excalibur flashed by in a blur, taking out the ones on the rear hatch before Cody turned and placed his foot on the barrel of the .50 Cal and pushed off on it. The gun swung around and swept the Orc's legs out from under them. They tumbled down onto the hood, taking out their fellow Demons. The whole scene reminded him of bowling.

Another Orc poked its head up on the side as it tried to climb up that way, roaring at Cody before he slammed Excalibur into its mouth silencing it. The Humvee rocked dangerously as the Orcs shifted tactics and tried to turn the vehicle over and spill him onto the ground.

"Okay, you can have it!" Cody relented as he leapt clear of the vehicle towards Matt and Lily, turning to face the remaining Demons. In rapid succession he cut down the Orcs until only one remained and he swatted its axe away with the flat edge of Excalibur and buried his sword in its body. He breathed a sigh of relief as it burst into smoke, feeling drained of energy and noticing the sweat pouring off his forehead for the first time.

"CODY!" Lily shouted and he spun around to see the Wraiths that had escaped earlier were coming right towards him. He wasn't quite sure what to do… Matt had said that physical weapons didn't hurt them, only extremely bright light… Bright light? What about the spotlights Cody wondered, before realizing that the people manning them were now dead. The Wraith's had eliminated that threat before coming after him. Then he had another idea…

Cody drew his left hand back in a pitching motion, willing his power to collect in his hand as he'd seen Taschen do while fighting Ashani. Additional power surged through his body and free his hand started glowing brighter. Cody swung his arm forward to make the pitch and watched in astonishment as a lance of golden light left his hand and slammed into two of the Wraiths causing them to shriek loudly as they vanished. He rolled out of the way as the last one swooped down at him, feeling its claws graze the top of his right shoulder. They ripped through his shirt and cut into his flesh, drawing blood.

Gritting his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain, Cody came up on one knee and fired off another lance of golden light with his left hand which surprisingly had still been pulling energy into it as if reloading for another shot. The stream of light overtook the Wraith and completely dissolved it. As its dying scream faded, Cody looked around for any more Demons and finding none he powered himself down and let Excalibur leave his side. Lily immediately came running forward, flinging herself at him, wrapping him up in her embrace and kissing him on the cheek.

"You were brilliant Cody!" She said as she pulled back from him, noticing how he cringed slightly as the pain from his right shoulder intensified briefly. Lily quickly circled around behind him, examined the three parallel cuts and said, "They're not deep, but we should clean and bandage them soon."

"Thanks Lily…" Cody yawned, feeling a wave of exhaustion overtake him. This was the most power he'd ever expended and he could feel it. He felt light and hollow on the inside. His body and stomach competed for attention as he felt himself falling asleep and become famished at the same time. She helped him to his feet and together they walked over to where Matt and the handful of police officers were staring at him in pure shock.

"Co…Cody…What are you?" Matt managed to stutter.

"I told you that the safest place to be was with him," Lily said with a satisfied smile.

"I'm a Child of Light," Cody answered, accepting Jarran's explanation of what he was. He noticed that the sound of fighting had faded completely from the camp and that an amplified voice was now giving the all clear. "Come on, I'll explain everything."

* * *

**A/N:** Cody is no doubt getting stronger after every battle, and now he has the ability to use his mind to force the Light to manifest itself in physical form and direct powerful lances of energy at ethereal foes. However, we must remember Jarran's ominous warning _"A word of advice… Just as you can no doubt feel my presence, I can feel yours Cody Martin. It would be wise, if you wish to continue eluding Chiam, not to use your powers.". _Has Cody sealed his own fate and the fate of everyone else taking refugee in Philly? Will Chiam discover Cody's whereabouts or will something or someone even more powerful be attracted by his release of such raw power? The inhabitants of the City of Brotherly Love have held out against long odds, but what will happen to them if Cody has drawn a Champion of Chaos to them? Stay tuned...

On a more personal note I've really slowed down almost to a stop on my fanfics for the time being, the next chapter is half written, as I'm putting more effort into my novel (details in my profile). I really do want to get this story finished because it has some plot elements that I want to try out before including in said novel. Well, hope you enjoyed, cya soon!

Happy Early Thanksgiving! (Yes, we're getting a good dinner over here in Iraq for the holidays as well!)


	9. Pandora's Assault

**Chapter Eight**

**Pandora's Assault**

_In a world beyond controlling  
Are you going to deny the savior  
In front of your eyes  
Stare into the night  
Power beyond containing  
Are you going to remain a slave for  
The rest of your life  
Give into the night_

_"The Night" by Disturbed_

"So if you've had this power all along, why did you bother using guns?" Matt wondered after Cody had finished explaining. They were sitting together on the floor of Cody's shared room along with Lily, resting after the battle.

"Because every time I use my powers more and more of those Demons show up and their masters appear along with them." Cody winced, taking in a sharp hiss of breath as Lily cleaned the cuts in his shoulder made by the final Wraith he'd killed. He could smell the overpowering odor of alcohol reach his nostrils at the same moment he felt the icy touch of the liquid.

"You're saying that they can sense you?"

"Yeah, and I can feel them too." Cody answered remembering the terrifying intensity of Ashani's power and then shortly after the growing sense of dread as Jarran became conscious and started to power up.

"Some kind of psychic power maybe?" Matt suggested helpfully. It didn't sound right though. Cody thought about it for a moment, comparing what he knew about the human brain and the old 'twin telepathy' joke he shared with Zack against what he had experienced back in Boston and at the motel in New Haven.

"Nah, it's like a sixth sense. It's just an overpowering sense of danger that reminds me of eating something that leaves a bad after taste in my mouth." He finally concluded. Lily had finished cleaning his cuts and was busy applying some kind of ointment over the slashes. Cody wordlessly turned his head to watch her as she worked and it wasn't until Lily had applied large bandages over the cuts that she looked up from her work and caught him staring at her. How had he failed to notice the beauty of her eyes and the soft curves of her beautiful face?

"What?" Lily asked, seeming to suppress a giggle as she smiled warmly at him. Cody found himself smiling back at her, though he could feel his cheeks heating up and hoped that she didn't see his embarrassment at having been caught admiring her in the low light.

"Thank you." He finally choked out, turning his gaze away from her, still smiling stupidly.

"You're welcome Cody," Lily said just before she surprised him with a quick peck to the cheek, "You protected me again." He just nodded and said nothing more, basking in her genuine appreciation and kindness. Cody briefly wondered if his feelings toward her were becoming more than strictly protective. He was barely sixteen, she was almost fourteen. Two years separated them and somehow the age difference had at first made him think of her as off limits as far as love was concerned, but now after all they had been through together he was beginning to think differently on the subject.

"Is that cool with you Cody?" Matt asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Cody looked up at his new friend, realizing by the concerned expression on his face that he had zoned out and missed what he'd said.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was saying that Lily was right. The safest place to be seems to be right by your side. Mind if I stay with you two tonight?"

"Are you sure you want to? I might be able to fight them off, but no matter where I go they're always drawn to me like magnets."

"Yeah I'm sure. I don't mind killing these bitches one little bit, I've lost my entire family because of them. Besides, I want to help you find out more about…uh…what you are." Matt explained, extending his hand as he finished speaking. Cody accepted it with a firm shake, glad to have a new friend and ally. Matt was willing to help Cody fight the Demons and learn more about what was really going on, and that was enough for him.

"You know people are going to be talking about what you did Cody." Lily said, handing him a fresh shirt that she had dug out of his backpack while the young men had been shaking hands.

"They already are." Matt confirmed, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"Let them talk," Cody muttered as he stood up and pulled on the shirt, "Using my power drains the hell out of me. I need to get some rest in case the Demons come back."

"I think we'd all benefit from some rest," Matt agreed as he got up and headed to the door, "I'm gonna grab some things from my place and come back in a little while."

Cody nodded as he watched him leave and then flopped down on his bed, mindful of the injured shoulder. He felt conflicted, the usage of his powers had left him feeling drained of energy but at the same time he wasn't exactly sleepy either. Lily lay down on her bed and looked across the open space at him, her eyes locking gazes with his. She seemed to be considering something.

"I'm really glad to have met you Cody." He wanted to thank her once more for her confidence in him and appreciation, but just smiled warmly instead. His eyes soon grew heavy and he slipped into unconsciousness as sleep claimed him.

* * *

Cody was violently awoken by a loud booming noise that shook the building and nearly tossed him onto to the floor. He rolled out of bed and stumbled as he got to his feet, disoriented in the darkness after having been woken from a deep sleep. There was movement around him as his companions jumped to their feet as well.

"What's happening?" Lily exclaimed in surprise, nearly falling over as another tremor shook the building. Cody steadied her and reached out with his mind looking for the poisonous aftertaste that he associated with the powerful presences of the Champions of Chaos and he felt none. This was a relief, but he also was aware that one of them could show up at any time.

"The Demons are back!" Matt jumped to that conclusion as the piercing wail of a siren assaulted their ears from all directions at once. He and Cody raced over to the window and pulled the curtain back, looking out into the city from their third floor room. At first Cody saw nothing more than people running around on the streets to defensive positions, but then a large shadow passed by temporarily blocking out the sunlight.

"We have to leave. Now!" Cody instructed, turning from the window and moving to gather anything useful and stuff it into his backpack. Lily copied his actions without question.

"What is it?" Matt wondered, confused by his actions.

"Dragons…" Cody answered simply as he zipped his pack shut and waited for Lily to grab her handgun from the bedside table. Matt grabbed his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, retrieved his M4 and chambered a round from a freshly loaded full magazine.

"You're serious aren't you? Dragons are just a myth…" Without warning Cody was overcome by a sudden surge of anger, grabbed his newfound friend and slammed him against the wall in the hallway outside of their room.

"Dragons killed my father right before my eyes. I smelled the burning flesh of hundreds of innocent people as their dying screams flooded my ears. I watched as they destroyed my home and everything that I cared about. They're fucking real!"

Cody abruptly released Matt, his pent up rage expended for the time being and walked to the stairwell. He didn't see Matt's submissive look or Lily's shocked expression as she looked from one boy to the other. After what seemed like hours, the two of them moved quickly to catch up to Cody and joined him on the stairs leading down.

"How do we fight them?" Matt asked as they reached the bottom floor. His voice was somewhat timid, not wanting to be the target of another outburst.

"We don't."

"Not even with your powers…?"

"If it were possible, I don't know how to do it. We have to run," Cody replied, throwing open the door and leading the way past the check in desk eventually emerging into the chaos of the outside. Without the walls of the motel around them, the sounds of battle were much more intense. The roar of dragons descending upon the populace of the entrenched city could be heard clearly, temporarily drowning out the battle cries of all manner of Demons clashing with the nearby defenders.

"Cody…" Lily worried aloud, spinning in circles taking in the hopelessness of their situation. The barricades in their area were destroyed, the gunfire was slacking off and the defenders were starting to retreat. An army of Orcs poured into the streets with several Trolls following behind. Dragons were circling overhead nearby, indiscriminately hurling streams of fire at the ground. Horrible screams and shrieks were heard for a brief instant as the destructive element unleashed its wrath and then the voices went silent.

"This way," Cody said, turning to follow the retreating police and volunteers as they fled deeper into downtown and then turned off on a side street. Staying away from big groups was the key to staying alive it seemed, just as he'd observed back in Boston. The Demons were drawn to large human presences just as they were to Cody when he was harnessing his power. He filed away that observation for later thought.

"What's the plan?" Matt shouted, jogging to keep up with Cody's quickening pace.

"Stay away from people, the Demons and get out of this city," he shouted back, "Protect Lily if I have to fight."

"We're just leaving them here to die?" Matt accused, challenging Cody.

"There's nothing we can do for them!"

"You can help these people!"

Cody stopped running and pulled them into the shelter of a destroyed storefront at a four way intersection that had been cleared of vehicles in order to use them as barricades. Apparently they had reached the outer boundary of the city's fortifications. Beyond it was nothing but streets clogged with vehicles, debris and the bodies of the victims slain during the initial invasion.

"I'm not a super hero Matt," Cody said heatedly as he turned on his newfound ally and then calmed down as his anger was replaced with sadness, "I wish I could do something… There's just too many of them. They're too strong!"

"Cody," Lily said unexpectedly, "If we can save them, please promise me you'll try."

"Lily… I don't know if I can protect you, let alone save everyone we run into."

"Please Cody!"

"Yeah, why should we get special treatment just because we're your friends? We're all in this war together, the entire human race, all of us." Matt added. Cody hung his head, realizing how selfish and self serving he had been. He was the only one with the power to make a difference, maybe he should put it to good use. Zack had went down fighting for the person he cared most about, not running away from danger to save his own skin. Cody inadvertently tapped into the light and let a small amount flow through him, though he could feel the pressure of even more energy threatening to spill over the dam into his body.

"You're right… I promise Lily." She came forward and hugged him.

"Thank you Cody."

As was the case with the entire invasion, what happened next came without warning. A dull booming noise accompanied several sections of pavement that covered the four way intersection breaking up and jumping into the air several feet before smashing back down onto the ground. Through the ensuing haze of debris and dust settling back to Earth Cody could make out the outline of a person walking towards them. The same feeling of dread he had experienced around Jarran suddenly swept over him. It was all over… A Champion of Chaos had found them.

"What the…?" Matt blurted in shock as Cody pushed them behind him.

"Get out of here now!"

As Matt pulled Lily deeper into the store, Cody watched as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen emerged from the haze wearing the same armor that was as black as an overcast night. Her blond hair reached down to her shoulders and her eyes reflected the reddish pink tint of the aura of energy that surrounded her body. She carried no visible weapon, but he doubted that she even would need one to kill him. The woman's level of power felt very close to what Ashani's had been when he killed Taschen.

"Well this is a surprise Child of Light! I didn't expect to find you here!"

"Who are you?" Cody asked when she didn't immediately attack.

"Lady Pandora, and you must be the Truth Seeker, Cody Martin?"

"How do you…?" He blurted out, feeling ice run through his veins. If Cody didn't think that powering up would provoke her to attack, he'd be at full strength right now just to feel the false sense of security that the light provided him.

"How do I know your name? Jarran told me of course." How was that possible? Cody wondered briefly how the young man they'd rescued, who turned out to be one of the Champions of Chaos, had told this woman that the two of them met after being left behind in New York. He brushed that concern aside, it didn't seem very important at the moment.

"Are you going to kill us?" There! He'd said it; the big question that was forefront on his mind.

"You're hardly worth fighting, as weak as you are," Pandora said matter of factly, "The answer however is no, I won't kill you today."

"Why?" Cody asked hesitantly, trying to look for any deception on her part and because he was deeply confused. The one Champion, Chaim, was actively hunting Cody with the intent to kill him, had already killed Zack and Ashani had already killed Taschen. Other the other side of the coin Jarran and Pandora were letting them just walk away. Again he was left with his original question. Why?

"Jarran is like a son to me and you saved his life. This is my gratitude Cody Martin," Pandora explained before pointing off to her left, "Leave now."

Cody hesitated for a moment, believing that she was sincere, but still very suspicious. Was it true what she had said? How could he believe her? Then again, he had put faith in Jarran and Cody's trust hadn't been broken during their brief standoff. It was either fight, or make a leap of faith…

"Do not make me repeat myself Child!" Taking his cue, Cody motioned to his friends and they slipped past the powerful armored woman.

"Oh, and one more thing Cody Martin…" Pandora said as they reached the barricade of vehicles and started climbing over it, Matt helping Lily get up on top of it. Cody looked back over his shoulder at the woman, wondering what she could possibly want now after letting them go unscathed.

"The next time we meet, we will battle each other. I hope you get stronger between now and then, I like a good challenge." Pandora smirked at him for a moment, he said nothing in reply and just locked gazes with her. The next instant she was surrounded by a cloud of dark smoke and vanished into thin air just as Jarran had back at the motel in New York.

Cody climbed the rest of the way over the wrecked vehicles and joined his friends on the other side. He was just breathing a sigh of relief when he heard a loud thunderclap followed by an earsplitting explosion. Spinning around as the ground started trembling Cody watched in horrified awe as one of the high rise office buildings collapsed to the ground. Seconds later another one followed it a block over.

"Oh my god…" Lily whispered.

"Is it her?" Matt wondered.

"Yes," Cody admitted in defeat, feeling Pandora's presence close by. Not as close as it had been seconds ago, but still within the city. There was a flash of reddish pink light and a third building came crashing down, each one getting closer to them. It was September 11th all over again!

"CODY!!!" Lily screamed at him, tugging on his arm as a fourth building came tumbling down, so close that he felt the air being displaced by its collapse wash over him. He turned and ran with his friends as the debris slammed into the ground behind them, throwing up a grey haze of dust and tiny debris that quickly overtook them.

Cody had promised to save those that he could, but how could he do that now? How could he fight a woman with the power to level an entire city all by herself? Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks as he thought about all of the innocent people being slain in the dying city. Cody wanted to scream his head off at the unfairness of it all, instead he quickly gathered himself, tucked his head down and kept running.

* * *

**A/N: **So our Hero is on the run again with his two friends. There are no more safe havens on the East Coast that they can get to. How will they survive now? Where will they go? What is Cody going to do to save the people of his world?

Wow! It's been quite a long time since I updated this. I was just feeling in the mood to work on this story. That and I'm writing the Pandora of the Chaos Project with Jarran, so since it isn't his turn to be in Truth Seeker atm, I thought I'd write her scene. Don't worry, as Arnold says in Terminator 3, "She'll be back." =)

Iraq is... well it's normal... for Iraq. Looks like we're leaving earlier with a shorter deployment (thank god) and I'll also be sitting at home after new years on two week leave woot! It's a late Christmas, but hey you get what you can get right?

If you play WoW, shoot Jarran on the Hakkar sever a Merry Christmas. He'll appreciate it =)

Cya in **Chapter Nine: Ace Combat**, until then Happy Holidays!


	10. Ace Combat

**Chapter Nine**

**Ace Combat**

_Revvin' up your engine  
Listen to her howlin' roar  
Metal under tension  
Beggin' you to touch and go  
Highway to the Danger Zone  
Ride into the Danger Zone_

_"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins_

As the morning stretched into afternoon, the clear sky above Philadelphia became overcast. It was an ominous sign to observers that the city was no longer a safe haven and the human resistance there had been wiped out. Looking back the way he had come with his friends, Cody felt a pang of regret knowing that he could have done something to save the innocent lives that were lost that day but he had been cowed into running by a woman who possessed so much power that she could wipe him out without batting an eye.

There was only one way to save humanity and that required him to use his power, but utilizing the abilities that he'd been gifted with would draw the enemy to him. Every time he used the light, more and more Demons were drawn to him followed by stronger creatures to include the powerful Champions. It was a paradox alright, but one that Cody was determined to overcome.

"Where do we go now?" Lily wondered, a worried look on her face. Her emotions were understandable as they had no supplies and no plan.

"The closest place holding out against the Demons is New York City, but last I heard they were under siege already. After that it's Miami or Dallas…" Matt offered helpfully. Cody simply shook his head, knowing that going to another human stronghold would only end in disaster.

"We need to stay away from people Matt. Big groups attract the Demons and I only make it worse…" His friend said nothing, but Cody could clearly tell that he wasn't happy. Matt was a fighter, he wanted to do something to help the world, but knowing that he couldn't as long as Cody was around hurt him. He wasn't going to say anything though, because he also knew that Cody could very well be the key to saving everyone.

"Come on, we still have a ways to go before we're out of the city," Cody prompted his friends, going from leaning against a building to standing up straight. Lily and Matt got to their feet and joined him, the trio walking carefully so as not to draw attention to themselves. They went two more blocks before Cody started to feel his chest constrict with dread. There were Demons very close to them, perhaps surrounding them by now but thankfully he didn't sense any of their masters.

"Matt, take Lily and keep going this way," Cody gestured straight ahead.

"What's up?" Matt asked.

"We're being followed…"

Cody peeled away from his friends and walked on the opposite side of the street, hoping that the Demons would come after him first which would buy Matt and Lily enough time to make a run for it. He concentrated briefly and sought out the source of his power, managing to easily find the light and draw a sliver of it inside of his body. Being careful not to draw too much power, lest he attract the Champion hunting him, Cody powered up slightly and with a flourish produced Excalibur.

The last time that he had used the weapon, Cody had reached new heights of power and decimated dozens, if not hundreds, of Demons in defense of Philly. He was confident that nothing short of the greater Demons like the Dragons or the Champions of Chaos themselves would pose a problem. After traveling for another block, he began to hear them. At first it was only the shuffle of feet or a piece of loose debris being kicked aside, but then the sounds of their grunting and heavy breathing reached his ears.

"Here they come!" Cody shouted to his friends, whipping Excalibur down and to the left cutting down an Orc as it came running out of a wrecked office building. He spun around to protect his backside just in time and parried an axe that surely would have split his head open like a watermelon being dropped from a great height. As he turned the attack away, Cody used his free hand the shove the creature away as it was already off balance. Surprisingly, the Orc dropped his weapon and clutched its face, roaring in agony as steam rose from where the teen's hand had been.

He observed this interesting development for a split second and then put the Demon out of its misery. Smoke washed over him from the destroyed Demon as another Orc leapt off the roof of a nearby hardware store attempting to flatten the young human who dared defy them. Cody raised his free hand without thinking and sent a lance of golden light into the airborne Orc, coring through the chest and out its backside. He sidestepped to get out of the way as the Demon landed heavily beside him and watched dispassionately as it dropped to its knees, fell face first into the ground and burst into smoke.

Cody looked around for his friends during the short reprieve and was relieved to see them unharmed and taking cover behind abandoned vehicles further up the street. Looking back around as he prepared to confront the Demons Cody froze as his brain tried to process what his eyes were seeing. Orcs, Trolls and creatures that he had never seen before were pouring into the street he was on from all sides, coming from side streets, down off rooftops and up from the sewer system.

"Cody get out of there!" Matt hollered. Not needing to be told twice he sprinted to his friends, closing the gap between them very quickly and then they all took off running. Cody powered up even more, throwing caution to the winds and was soon enveloped by the same golden aura that had appeared during his last battle. Even as he paused for a split second to send back several lances of light, Cody realized that it was a battle he could not win. For every Demon that went down from his attacks, two more seemed to take its place. All he could do now was run…

"What's that?" Lily yelled as they all heard something above and behind them. Before they could even begin to look around for the strange sound, a brilliant white light snapped on and illuminated the trio briefly before traveling backwards into the pursuing Demons. A backwash of air nearly knocked them over and the next thing he knew Cody was running right towards a military helicopter that was hovering just above multistory apartment complexes in that part of town.

There was a deafening roar as it unleashed a hail of bullets that ripped into the Demon lines, followed by the whooshing noises of rockets sailing overhead and impacting into the ground shredding several Orcs. Now Cody recognized the aircraft as he passed underneath it. Zack had been fond of playing military first person shooters and as he had often dragged his younger twin over to the couch to play with him in co-operative mode, Cody knew it was an Apache gunship that had come to their rescue.

The air shimmered in front of the helicopter as its chain guns sprayed a seemingly unending steam of bullets into the ranks of the Demons which were fast disappearing behind a veil of dark smoke.

"One mile ahead at the park there's airlifts out of here, move it or lose it!" An amplified voice said as the gunship ceased firing and began to rise into the air. It spun around and headed off in the direction that the trio were originally running in. They glanced at each other in agreement and bolted down the street.

* * *

Cody felt hopelessness wash over him as they neared the open park and watched several Black Hawks taking off, their rotors spinning with unbelievable speed and engines whining loudly as the aircraft broke away from the pull of gravity and leapt into the air. They all ran faster, desperate to reach their only ticket out of the doomed city. Heart pounding in his chest, sweat pouring off his forehead and breath coming in ragged gasps, Cody wasn't sure if he would make it in time. Matt and Lily were even worse off, they were equally as exhausted as he was, but they didn't have the power of the light to draw on to keep pushing themselves forward.

Then, as the last helicopters lifted off, four more landed behind them to load the last group of escapees. One of the crew chiefs spotted the three teenagers racing across the grass towards them and waved them over in a gesture that simply said 'hurry up!'. Cody slowed as the Black Hawk's rotors buffeted him with powerful gusts of wind and he ducked slightly as he approached, afraid of having his head lopped off by the spinning blades. He waited until Lily and Matt arrived, helped them into the aircraft before getting in himself and taking the last open seat which was rear facing. The crew chief hurriedly strapped the newcomers into the restraining harnesses, exited the bird, slammed the door shut and got back in behind Cody next to where another soldier manned a crew serve weapon.

The helicopter shook as the rotors sped up, spinning the blades faster and faster and the engines whined as they prepared to take off. Cody felt like his heart leapt into his throat as they suddenly jumped into the air, rapidly ascending and watched the ground below them fall away with stunning speed. Tilting forward slightly, the Black Hawk picked up speed and rapidly left the park behind.

"Everyone alright?" The crew chief yelled back to the passengers. There were several affirmative answers and words of gratitude yelled back in response. Cody relaxed into his seat, pretending that the vibrations of the helicopter were a gentle massage loosening his tight neck and back muscles. They would be safe for the time being, up in the air and speeding away from Philadelphia. He took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves and closed his eyes, intending to get some rest.

A bright flash of orange light penetrated his eyelids and Cody awoke with a start, not having realized that he'd even fallen asleep, looking around for the source. He followed Matt and Lily's gaze as they gasped in surprise at what they saw. Beside and slightly behind their Black Hawk, another helicopter was on fire, black smoke pouring from its engines as it started to spin out and loose altitude.

Just as Cody started to wonder what had brought down the aircraft, he saw several shadowy shapes move forward to chase down another helicopter. There was no mistaking it now, Wraiths had found them and they were safe from the afternoon sun underneath the thick cloud cover they were flying through.

Before the Wraith's reached their next target, an Apache moved up from behind and engaged the Demons, firing dangerously close to the Black Hawk ahead of it. Unfortunately the gunship's bullets passed harmlessly through the Wraiths. Nothing but bright light could stop them. Unless they could rise above the cloud cover, or Cody could somehow get a clear shot, they were all doomed.

Not knowing what to do, Cody powered up, startling everyone around him as his golden aura surrounded him. He gazed through the window, wondering if it would block his energy attacks since technically light could pass through glass and plastic. He placed his palm against the window and gave it a try, watching with satisfaction as a lance of light reached out toward the soon to be doomed helicopter, curved slightly as it homed in on one of the Demons and obliterated it. The rest of the Wraith's scattered after seeing what had happened their companion and then turned for Cody's helicopter to try and put him out of commission. How could he stop them now?

Without conscious thought he extended his aura until it encompassed the entire aircraft. He felt the Black Hawk sway slightly as the pilots jerked the controls in surprise. Cody's split second decision paid off however as his barrier of light successfully repelled the corporeal Demons.

"CLIMB!!!" Cody screamed at the crew chief who had twisted around to stare at him in surprise, "LIGHT DESTROYS THEM. CLIMB!!!" The chief nodded, said something into his microphone and Cody was relieved when he felt them start to ascend through the clouds.

Breaking into the sunlight above the clouds, Cody realized that they had escaped one danger only to have it replaced by another for a pair of Dragons were closing in on them. He couldn't do anything about them and he doubted that the weapons onboard the helicopters would be able to put a dent in their thick scaly armored hides. The Apache that had saved Cody and his friends as they were running through the streets of Philly was engulfed by a plume of flame as the giant Demons caught up with them. He distantly heard the automatic weapons on their helicopter firing in vain.

Unexpectedly the Dragon who had destroyed the Apache was suddenly hit by something big enough to knock it backwards before exploding. Cody braced himself as concussive waves washed over them and watched in awe as it fell away, it's body torn in half by the two powerful explosions that had hit it. What the hell could do that to a Dragon?

Cody's unspoken question was answered as he saw a pair of white contrails race by overhead, created by the fighter jets that had just arrived to save the day. He watched them make a wide turn in the distance and come around for another pass to intercept the remaining dragon with another pair of missiles.

With the threat gone, Cody let his power drop away, not eager to give the Champions of Chaos or their Demons an easy way to follow him and relaxed his body once more. Maybe now they would be safe for awhile. He closed his eyes again to rest, somehow failing to see the shocked expressions of everyone around him sans Matt and Lily.

* * *

**A/N:** Cody and his friends are safely away from Philadelphia after a frantic battle against the airborne Demons. He's protected his friends and helped save countless lives by directing his power against the darkness that seeks to destroy the human race. Where will they go now and what is to become of the world? Better yet, now that the military has seen what this powerful young man can do, how will they handle him once they arrive at their destination?

Find out this and more in **Chapter 10: Berserker**

Stay tuned! Thanks for reading! =)


	11. Berserker

**Chapter Ten**

**"Berserker"**

_I can't hold on  
To what I want when I'm stretched so thin  
It's all too much to take in  
I can't hold on  
To anything, watching everything spin  
With thoughts of failure sinking in_

_If I turn my back I'm defenseless  
And to go blindly seems senseless  
If I hide my pride and let it all go on  
Then they'll take from me till everything is gone  
If I let them go I'll be outdone  
But if I try to catch them I'll be outrun  
If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer  
Then I'll be buried in the silence of the answer  
By myself (myself)_

_I ask why (but in my mind I find)  
I can't rely on myself (myself)  
I ask why (but in my mind I find)  
I can't rely on myself_

_I can't hold on…_

_"By Myself" by Linkin Park_

What seemed like several hours later to Cody who was fitfully napping, the helicopters landed at an airbase and began to shut down as evening approached. The sun was low in the sky, lighting up the clouds with alternating shades of gold and red light. The passengers, helped by the crew chief, soon disembarked and Cody was glad to have his feet firmly planted on the ground again. After clearing the rotors and moving a short distance away he, Matt and Lily stretched their stiff muscles and walked around a bit to relive their sore bottoms. Military aircraft were certainly uncomfortable Cody mused lightly to himself.

Soon after they were following the rest of the rescued people into what looked like a large aircraft hanger which stood empty at the moment. Several soldiers and airmen were ushering them inside and Cody had the strangest feeling of being watched. His suspicions were confirmed when he entered the hanger and he was pulled aside by an officer who was of average height and had brown hair that was streaked with grey. Matt and Lily stopped a short distance away watching the exchange.

"Excuse me son, but I heard an interesting tale from the pilots who just flew you in," the Army officer said, his rank identifying him as a two star general by the name of Stevens.

"Yeah, there were dragons up there can you believe it sir?" Cody said, trying to play dumb. Unfortunately the general saw right through him.

"Normally I would discount outlandish tales such as people firing lasers at Demons to stress or fatigue, but nearly all of my men and women reported seeing it. One of the crews identified you as the source."

"Uhh…"

"Care to explain young man?"

"Look sir, I'm not a threat to you or your soldiers," Cody stated bluntly, sensing the officer's primary concern.

"Then what are you?" Stevens asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"I was born to fight these Demons, I have special gifts at my disposal that are more effective at destroying them than any conventional weapon."

"Then why didn't you stop the dragons yourself instead of the Air Force?"

"I'm not strong enough yet," Cody admitted, hanging his head in shame. If it hadn't been for the military, he and his friends would all be dead by now.

"Let's say I believe you for a moment, would you demonstrate your 'special gifts'?" Stevens asked skeptically.

"Using my power only draws them to me," Cody answered, confident that he didn't need to explain who he meant.

"What is to say that you haven't drawn them here already by your antics on the way here?" Stevens wondered, obviously not buying Cody's reasoning.

"But!" Cody exclaimed, his cheeks flushing with anger, "I saved your people up there!"

"We could have handled it." Cody couldn't believe what he was hearing…

"You have no idea what you're dealing with sir!"

"On the contrary, it is you young man that has no idea," Stevens countered, his tone indicating that they were obviously done talking. He turned and walked away with his armed escorts as the rest of the survivors in the hangar listened intently to a brief given by a junior officer further away. Cody balled his hands into fists, feeling his fingertips dig into his palms as the officer dismissed his claims.

"Idiot!" Cody hissed as Matt and Lily came over to him.

"That went well," Matt said sarcastically.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked, looking around the hangar as if Demons might jump out at them at any moment now that no one believed Cody. She didn't know how right she was…

* * *

After listening to the rest of the brief and having a quick bite to eat, the three friends heard a wailing siren pierce the relative calm of the base. Unseen by them, a horde of Demons assaulted the outer gates, breaking through with ease and spilling onto the base, cutting down the limited resistance they encountered. Among them was a lone human who seemed to be directing them with only his thoughts. Satisfied that the attack was well underway, the leader set out on his own looking for something…

Knowing that it was past time to leave, Cody urged his friends out of the chow hall and went in the direction opposite that everyone else was traveling. He was bound and determined to help out in the defense of the base until Cody saw that it was already too late. The thin line of defenders wouldn't hold them off for long, not even with his help.

Distantly the sound of helicopters rising into the air to assist in pushing back the demonic tide could be heard. Then, just as they were airborne and turning towards the encroaching threat, lances of reddish pink light cut through the air and cored into the aircraft. Explosions deafened the trio as they took cover behind a nearby building, flaming debris from the destroyed helicopters slamming into the ground as their burned out skeletons crashed back to the earth. They moved quickly around the building, searching for a way out of the deathtrap that the base had become.

Cody turned the corner and froze. Standing not twenty feet away was a tall man clad in black as night armor wielding an obsidian sword. He could feel the waves of dark power crashing against him now that he was so close to the enemy.

Feeling a flare of hatred for the man who had personally killed his brother, Cody balled his hands into fists. This was the Champion that Jarran had warned Cody was hunting him. It was Chiam, no doubt about it. He seemed to have been looking around for something, but the moment the trio rounded the corner, his head snapped towards them.

Chiam knew that the final Child of Light was headed in this direction and he had followed the procession of Earth Realm humans to this air base after being too late to catch him in Philadelphia. The Child had given him the slip in Boston after narrowly escaping thanks to his insufferable brother buying him time to get away and then Chiam had followed the brief flares of light energy he sensed as his target moved down the east coast. When Chiam was certain that his enemy was in Philadelphia, he'd assumed that Pandora would kill him in her assault on one of the last strongholds maintained by the people of this realm, but he had been wrong.

Somehow the Child had given her the slip too, but now Chiam was very close. He knew it, he could feel it. Now as he directed the Demons under his command to attack the air base, he wandered around following his sixth sense which was highly attuned to sensing the light and he was sure that he was almost upon the one person he sought.

As he walked into the group of teenagers, he sensed that he was getting close. They were around the same age as the Child of Light he'd already killed and perhaps these three were friends of the remaining Child or would know where to find him. Perhaps one of them was the very Child he was seeking. The blond haired boy standing in the middle of the three looked very familiar.

"I seek the Truth Seeker," Chiam said, grinning at his own little joke as he approached the trio of friends backing away from him. They were on their guard which was a good thing, showing that they knew of and respected the Champion's power.

"If you want him, you'll have to go through me first!" Matt growled, stepping in front of Chiam. The Champion of Chaos regarded this boy briefly, admiring his courage and loyalty to his friend. It was too bad that people like him were born into the light. Those were the qualities that were so highly praised by the Children of Darkness.

"Very well," Chiam said simply, effortlessly slamming his obsidian blade into the boy's chest. Matt didn't even have time to register the shock of having his body run through by the dark metal. His arms simply dropped to his sides, his knees gave out and he collapsed onto his side, dead before he hit the ground. It had all happened so fast that it took a second for it to register in the minds of the two remaining friends.

Cody and Lily screamed at the same time, Cody in anguish, Lily in horror. She tried to move forward to get to Matt, or to try and attack Chiam, Cody didn't know which but he had the presence of mind to hold her back with one arm.

"Your turn," Chiam said without emotion as he stepped over Matt's body and walked towards Cody. The teenager dropped his gaze on his friend, too afraid and horrified to even think about fighting back. Cody was paralyzed by the sudden violence he'd witnesses and the toll it took on his already ravaged soul. Chiam was drawing dangerously close and in his mind's eye, Cody could see the evil man getting ready to strike him down just as easily as he had Matt.

"Don't let it end like this Cody," a strangely familiar voice whispered, the subtle tones breaking through his anguished grief like the first rays of sun through the clouds after a rainy day. He looked up, feeling the power of the light surging into him as through it were trying to lift him off the ground. Cody was certain that he was hearing the voice of his dead brother speaking to him, pleading for him to put an end to this senseless destruction.

"Ah, there you are!" Chiam exclaimed in triumph, feeling the last remaining Child of Light harness his gift. He settled his gaze on the blond haired young man as his aura of golden light appeared and grew brighter in intensity. The Champion frowned as he felt the Child's power soar well past anything he had ever sensed from this teenager before. Tremors passed through the ground, threatening to unbalance all who stood nearby causing cracks to appear in the concrete surface. It seemed as if the Earth was echoing the rage felt by its last reaming defender.

"Yeah, here I am," Cody hissed as he sprang forward through the air. His feet never touched the ground as he blurred forward towards Chiam, a glint of sunlight reflecting off a polished metal surface the only indication that he had summoned Excalibur with mind numbing speed. Chiam lifted his own sword, Justice, into a horizontal position to block Cody's overhead swing.

There was a loud banging noise as the auras of the two combatants met, their swords giving off metallic clangs as Excalibur slammed into the unyielding edge of Justice and was stopped there. Cody pushed against his enemy with incredible strength, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Immortal who had centuries of experience fighting against the best warriors of the realms now conquered by his own. Grunting, Cody pulled away, flipping backward through the air and landing lightly on his feet.

Just as gravity reclaimed its hold upon the Child of Light, he sent a lance of golden light across the distance that separated him from Chiam. The Champion blinked in surprise at the viciousness of the attack even as he reflexively used his sword to deflect the attack away from his body. He began to realize that Cody could very well inflict serious damage upon him and decided that it was time to stop playing around and put this upstart runt of a Child of Light out of his misery.

"Who do you think you are?" Chiam thundered, walking directly towards Cody. The teenager gripped his sword tighter as evil personified strode almost leisurely toward him. He was afraid, he had no idea how he could beat this man. Running away from him wasn't an option. There was no way in hell he would leave the remaining soldiers and civilians to the mercy of Chiam.

"I'm the Truth Seeker," Cody said, his face settling into a mask of determination as he thought about all of the people who were counting on him to shield them from the wrath that the Champion of Chaos could unleash upon them. He drew strength and courage from this realization, Cody was an unselfish person to the very end putting the lives of others before his own.

"You're nothing," the Immortal said savagely as he brought Justice around, having come within striking distance of Cody, and unleashed a series of rapid probing attacks. Relying on the instincts imprinted on his soul from past lives Cody was able to keep up with the Champion for a short time and then unexpectedly he found himself trying to dodge a round house kick aimed at his head after having his blade turned away. Cody was fast, but Chiam was faster. Even as the Child of Light staggered sideways and finally collapsed onto the ground, a sharp pain in his head throbbing in synch with the ringing in his ears, he wondered how it was possible for a man to move so fast with that kind of fluid precision and grace while wearing a suit of armor.

Cody sensed rather than heard Chiam come to stand over him. Struggling to ignore the pain, he rolled over onto his back in a futile attempt to put some distance between them. Chiam's foot connected with Cody's sword hand, the armored boot slamming into his wrist with so much force that he dropped Excalibur. The sword clattered down on the ground next to him.

The Champion flicked his wrist and Justice vanished in a puff of dark smoke and he knelt down beside the young Child of Light. Cody saw the hungry gleam in his eyes even as Chiam drew his right fist backward and delivered a powerful blow to his chest driving the breath from his lungs. Pulling back his fist, Chiam proceeded to throttle the defenseless teenager's midsection causing Cody to open his mouth in silent agony as he felt pain that he'd never felt before.

When Chiam was satisfied, he stood again and delivered several powerful kicks that connected with Cody's thighs and calves, savoring the choking screams of his prey as the teen struggled to breathe. Tears streamed involuntarily from the Child of Light's eyes and through his blurry vision he caught sight if Chiam raising his right hand, a hellish red glow surrounding his open palm as he prepared to unleash the negative energy of darkness, guaranteed to rip apart weaklings born into the light.

"Please…" Cody croaked, his voice barely coming out as a whisper so quiet that his enemy couldn't hear him, but his words weren't meant for the Immortal who was about to end his life. He was begging the voice, Zack's voice, for help.

"Now die!" Chiam roared, dropping his hand downward until it pointed at his prey and unleashed a lance of negative energy. Cody turned his head away, unwilling to see the instrument of his demise. He couldn't remember consciously ordering his arms to cross in front of his face in a final act of self preservation, left arm over top of his sword arm bracing it from underneath.

The energy slammed into Cody, pushing him against the ground with incredible strength and he gritted his teeth as he fought against the crushing force. The fine hair on his arms and legs stood on end, static electricity crackling along the length of his exposed flesh as the burning heat of the attack washed over him. 'This isn't so bad,' Cody thought as he weathered the killing blow. He would have thought dying hurt more than this…

As the force crushing his body let up, he turned his head to look up at Chiam and found his view blocked. At the same time he felt the weight of an alien device attached to his left forearm which vaguely resembled the shape of an interstate highway sign. His mind put two and two together as he realized what it was. He had a soulbound sword made of light and as a warrior or even a knight, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he should have a shield as well. Glancing over the top portion of the kite shield, he stared back at a shell shocked Chiam.

It took great effort and heavy reliance on his injured arm for Cody to get into a sitting position. He reached out with his mind and strengthened his bond with the light he had harnessed earlier, having lost hold of it during Chiam's brutal beating and felt the surge of renewed energy warm his body and dull the pain he felt all over his battered body. It was just enough to allow him to shakily get back on his feet and retrieve Excalibur.

Cody's heart pounded in his chest as sweat poured down his face, realizing how close he had come to dying. If not for the unexpected appearance of his new golden shield which was highlighted by a black secondary color he would be dead by now. Death was inevitable however and Cody, battered, broken and exhausted as he was knew that he was in no shape to continue fighting.

"It seems I misjudged you Truth Seeker," Chiam stated, moving for the first time since his failed attack, "Killing your friend there seems to have been the impetus you needed to become a worthy opponent." Cody glanced over at Matthew, lying on his side further away in a pool of his own blood, his body run through by Chiam's sword as the innocent boy stood between the Champion and Cody in a final act of defiance. Matt was a hero just like Cody, saving countless people by his actions and putting the lives of others before his own. He deserved much more than to just be called an 'impetus' for Cody's increase in strength.

"You sick son of a…"

"Perhaps you can get even stronger still," Chiam wondered, moving his gaze almost imperceptibly from Matt's body to the girl who was on her knees at his side, crying over his loss and holding his head in her lap, "Maybe if I kill your little girlfriend too?"

He meant to kill Lily! Ice flooded through Cody's veins as the realization dawned on him. He couldn't allow that to happen. He'd already failed Matt and he would rather die that break his vow to keep Lily safe. Chiam raised his hand and pointed it at the girl, hellish red and pink light coalescing in his palm once more.

"No."

"No?" Chiam laughed both at Cody's flat statement and the commanding tone he had used. He released the lance of negative energy and it screaming away from him, racing towards Lily with unbelievable speed.

"CODY!!!" She cried in surprise, begging for her savior to protect her from the darkness once more, not knowing that he could do nothing about Chiam's attack. He'd never reach her in time to throw her out of the way, never move fast enough to deflect the attack with his shield and never be able to save her…

Something snapped inside Cody, the culmination of every event he'd witnessed leading up to this point in time crashing down heavily upon his shoulders. His mother had sacrificed herself to protect her children, Zack had gone down fighting to give the brother he loved a chance to escape, Kurt had died in the ensuing chaos as he tried to escape to safety with his son, all of the twin's friends likely dying in the first few days of the invasion, Taschen's stand against the Demon Lord who had started it all and then finally Matt standing between Chiam and Cody, paying for his defiance of evil with his life. Golden light exploded around Cody, blinding him with its intensity.

* * *

"Hey what's the big idea?" Cody demanded of his ten year old twin brother. Zack had broken one of his brother's favorite toys with his careless actions and his lack of guilt really bothered the younger twin.

"Oh," Zack said, pretending to suddenly realize what he'd done.

"Say you're sorry!" Cody demanded of his twin.

"No way!" Zack shot back. Acting on an angry impulse, the younger twin tackled his brother and they rolled around on the floor wrestling. They weren't prone to fighting as most brothers are growing up and Zack just assumed that this would be a simple little tussle between them like usual and that he would eventually win by getting Cody in a headlock forcing him to stop. This time however, Cody seemed to be way too angry over a broken toy. He was forcing Zack's arms back with incredible strength and the older twin decided to relent.

"Look I'm sorry," the older brother half yelled, trying to push himself away from his twin, but Cody wouldn't let go of him or even acknowledge Zack's apology.

They wrestled around some more, this time Zack gave everything he had realizing that Cody wasn't just playing around. He was really pissed and wasn't about to let Zack get off lightly. After a short amount of time, Cody had both of Zack's arms in his hands and squeezed them with unnatural strength. Zack cried out and tears sprang to his eyes from the pain Cody had inflicted upon him.

"Cody, you're hurting me!" Zack sobbed, desperately struggling to get away. Cody seemed to awaken from his blind rage upon hearing the older twin's pained cry and blinked in surprise as his hands sprung open to release his brother. Zack lay on the carpet massaging his wrists looking at Cody with a mixture of anger and confusion in his accusing glare. Worst of all was the hurt expression on his face. Neither of them had ever intentionally inflicted the kind of pain on the other Zack was now experiencing.

'Never again,' Cody silently promised himself, tears springing to his eyes as he moved forward to apologize to and comfort his twin.

* * *

Reality snapped back to Cody as the memory faded along with the intense golden light that had violently erupted around him as Chiam targeted Lily. He was surprised to find Chiam so close to him, their faces only inches apart. There was a clatter on the ground as Chiam's sword fell from his right hand which was restrained by the crushing grip of Cody's free hand. He knew that it wasn't Excalibur that had fallen because he could still feel it pressed tightly into the palm of his other hand. Something warm and sticky washed over cross guard on to Cody's fingers before spreading to his wrist and he glanced down in horror as he saw Excalibur buried up to its hilt in Chiam's torso. From the angle he held it at it had no doubt gone up into his chest cavity and came out the back, severing his spine in the process.

Cody pulled his sword out and stumbled backward, horrified that he had taken the life of a sentient creature. Freed from the support of Cody's sword, a wide eyed Chiam fell heavily to his knees and then crashed forward onto his face in rapid succession. It was over, just like that. He had beaten the powerful Champion of the Chaos Realm with no recollection of how he had done it. Excalibur faded away and he was left standing there looking dumbly down at the man he had killed. He felt a light impact hit him and arms wrap around him in a tight embrace.

"Cody…" Lily whispered, burying her tear stained face into his chest.

"It's over…" Cody said, surprising himself with the relief that flooded through him in spite of everything that had happened to them today. Killing Chiam had lifted an extremely heavy burden from Cody's shoulders and now he knew that they could all breathe a little easier with him gone.

Unlike the Demons, that when killed exploded into dark smoke, Chiam's body remained intact. His black as night armor faded away and Cody felt his presence vanish from his sixth sense. The dead Champion lay face down on the concrete which was rapidly turning red from the blood escaping his body.

"They really are just humans," Cody whispered in awe. Somehow he had believed that there was more to the Champions than met the eye, like they were some kind of super Demons able to take on human form or something. This was far from the truth however. Chiam remained where he had died, just as all of the innocent people slain by his hand had. He was made of flesh and bone just like Cody. He possessed a soul that allowed him access to the cosmic power of darkness just like Cody's allowed him to tap into the light.

He was angry and saddened by Matt's death, relieved that Lily was somehow still alive and grateful to be alive himself, but most of all he was horrified at what he'd done. Taking the lives of mindless Demons was one thing, but destroying the life force of another human being and having their blood literally stain his hands was something completely different. This was the cost of the war, he'd known it all along, but it had never made as much of an impact on him as it did now.

Cody laid his head down on top of Lily's and let his tears flow freely as they held each other.

* * *

**A/N:** A) Epic. B) Wow! C) Meh! D) What Happened?

Score one for the good guys! But how did Cody stop Chiam? Why doesn't he remember any of it? What's the significance of the brief memory of fighting with Zack? Does Lily know what happened to Cody in that brief moment?

Stay tuned for **Chapter Eleven: "Trust and Hope"**


	12. Trust and Hope

**Chapter Eleven**

**"Trust and Hope"**

_When you feel so close to some resolve  
And you say the things that you're standing for  
Don't let your courage get dissolved  
Cause it's then that the fear grows_

_Just give me the word and I'll be there for you_

_"Falling On" by Finger Eleven_

Cody sighed in utter contentment from where he lay in a patch of grass, basking in the warmth of the sun's rays. The heat and fresh mountain air were making him drowsy and he felt himself start to drift off into a light sleep. He was awakened after a brief nap as Lily snuggled up against him and Cody moved his right arm to accommodate her presence.

"Beautiful day," Lily breathed as she relaxed against his side.

"You can say that again," Cody agreed, looking up into the clear blue sky that almost had a mesmerizing quality. The only thing that could possibly make this day better was if the rest of the human race was able to share in the experience, but that was now impossible. There was almost no one left alive on the planet…

"You did everything you could Cody," Lily said, guessing where his thoughts were heading. She knew him too well, especially after having been at his side for the better part of two years in the wake of Matthew's death as he took the fight to the Demons.

"I know…just sometimes I wish I could have done more," he said sadly, thinking of all the battles he had fought and the futility of them all. The nations of the world had been defeated and the human race virtually snuffed out of existence. Earth was now home to the demonic tide that had consumed it. Cody had thought that defeating Chiam would somehow end the suffering of his fellow humans, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Despair quickly replaced hope and everything fell apart from there…

* * *

_The golden light erupted outward into existence in all directions. Chiam was forced to shield himself against Cody's incredible raw power which simultaneously dissolved the Champion's attack before it reached Lily. Blindingly bright light had then wrapped around Cody, conforming to his body before it began to manifest itself as a physical shape._

_Cody was far too enraged to notice what was happening to him, but Lily would later fill him in on the details. Just as the Champions were encased in a suit of black as night armor, a similar suit of armor now appeared around Cody's body covering him from neck to toe. The plates of armor were the color of the sun, a bright gold that reflected the light of his aura and projected an air of dangerous power thanks to the solid black coloring that highlighted the edges and joints. _

_ With shield in hand, Excalibur reformed itself in the palm of Cody's sword hand and the image was complete. Cody Martin was the Truth Seeker, the last of the Children of Light and sole remaining Champion of the Earth Realm. Chiam gaped at the sight of him, he'd battled light brats before on other worlds, but he'd never seen one of them get this powerful before. A small twinge of fear entered his consciousness…_

_Cody exploded into action, his aura seeming to lag behind for a moment as he raced forward with mind numbing speed, closing the gap between himself and Chiam in a split second. Excalibur flashed wickedly as he went all out on the Champion of Chaos, raining hammer blow after hammer blow down upon Justice's edge, each impact resounding with a thunderous boom and forcing him to give ground. Chiam disengaged and then tried to go on the offensive, but Cody wasn't having any of it. The younger warrior dismissed his shield, placed both hands on Excalibur's hilt and swung it two handed with all the strength he could muster. Chiam barely dodged out of the way as Excalibur smashed through Justice, cleaving the obsidian sword in two. _

_ "I don't believe this!" Chiam hissed, launching himself backward into the air and gathering negative energy into his hands as he raised them over his head as if trying to call to the heavens for help. Cody stood his ground and watched on with an odd feeling of detachment, momentarily forgetting his anger over Chiam's slaying of Matthew. The Champion of Chaos launched his attack, the lance of reddish pink negative energy crackled as it passed through the air headed straight down at the Child of Light who dared to defy him so effectively._

_ "Believe," Cody whispered, his voice lacking in emotion, before swinging his arms in front of him and returning fire with a lance of golden light even bigger than Chiam's attack. As he put everything he had into the counter attack, Cody screamed in a sudden release of pent up fury. The golden light consumed the red energy as though it wasn't even there and washed over Chiam. _

_ The Champion screamed in pain as he tumbled from the air and landed on his back. Cody slowly approached his fallen adversary who was struggling to get to his feet. Sinister wisps of grey smoke rose from Chiam's armor, clear evidence of Cody's counter-attack and in other places blood flowed freely from where the light had ripped into flesh. _

_ Cody reached down with his free hand and grabbed Chiam by the top of his breastplate, hauling the wounded Champion to his feet. He stared into the brown eyes of the man who had personally robbed Zachary and Matthew of their lives and might as well have killed Carey and Kurt himself for the part he'd played in the invasion, passing judgment on Chiam's soul._

_ "Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will hunt the rest of your kind down without mercy until I draw my last breath," Cody spat at the man, his body starting to shake uncontrollably. Chiam's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as Cody sunk Excalibur into his midsection and forced it upward. _

_ "Don't lose yourself to bloodlust brother, end this now," Zack's voice cautioned him. Cody's surprise, more than anything else, was what broke the spell over him as he looked around for his twin hoping to find him standing nearby safe and sound now that his killer had been slain. The golden light rapidly faded along with his armor._

* * *

Cody suddenly sat up, startling Lily in the process as he became aware of an encroaching presence. It was both familiar and alien at the same time. After Chiam had fallen by Cody's hand, the remaining Champions of Chaos deigned to leave him alone. His supernatural senses were screaming a warning at him, making it feel as though the air around him had suddenly condensed. This was accompanied by a powerful sense of dread and a bad aftertaste left behind on his tongue.

"Cody? What's going on?" Lily asked as she sat up as well, correctly assuming that he had sensed some kind of impending danger. He pressed a finger against his lips in a gesture that told her to remain silent.

"There's a Champion here," Cody whispered, scanning all around him looking for the source of the darkness that he was feeling. The bright and sunny day somehow seemed to darken ominously even though nothing had actually happened to the weather.

After a moment Cody spotted wisps of black smoke raising from the ground, slowly creeping towards him from down the hill, growing taller the closer it came. His perception of the darkness seemed to increase with burning intensity and he was certain that this was the source. He quickly got to his feet, placing himself between Lily and the smoke cloud, already harnessing the flow of light and redirecting it inside of his body to prepare it for combat.

Before Cody could begin to doubt whether or not he would be able to defeat this Champion without losing control of himself and going berserk again, a tall handsome young man dressed casually in a loose fitting black shirt and navy blue jeans casually strode out of the dark cloud almost anti-climatically. Tendrils of smoke seemed to linger around him, hugging his arms and legs lovingly before succumbing to the pull of the entire mass as it dispersed and faded away. The newcomer's short white blond hair caught the light, stunning Cody with its brightness compared against the rest of his dark attire and he turned those incredible piercing green eyes to meet the Truth Seeker's shocked gaze.

"Hello Cody Martin!" The newcomer greeted, only a few steps away from seeming cheerful. His power immediately dropped off to a trickle as he held up empty hands, causing Cody to involuntarily relax a little bit at the lengths to which this Champion was taking to appear as non-threatening as possible. Then it clicked…

"Jarran?" The young man nodded, his lips breaking into a small smile at the recognition. Cody marveled at how different Jarran looked, remembering that he had been shorter and the muscles in his arms had not been defined at all like they were now when they last saw each other. It seemed that the last two years had been very generous to him. Cody wondered if he looked any different to the young man they had pulled out of a debris pile back in Boston long ago.

"It's good to see you again," Jarran said, taking a couple of steps towards them, but hesitating when he saw Cody tense up. He hadn't let go of the light just yet. Regardless of their history together, two years was a lot of time to change a person and suspicion was foremost among Cody's emotions.

"Why are you here?" Cody asked a little more scathingly than he intended. With a heavy sigh, Jarran lowered his hands and stuck them in his pockets.

"I didn't come here to fight, hurt you in any way or threaten you," Jarran said softly, trying to keep the situation from exploding and then in a more commanding tone, "I came to talk."

"About what?"

"Events are coming to a head Cody and I think you're the only one who can help me."

"I thought you were the one who owed me a favor!"

"So I do, but I'd rather not talk about this outside," Jarran warned him, glancing around at the trees that surrounded the cabin as if something or someone would come leaping out at them at any moment. He was edgy, Cody realized, suddenly aware that whatever it was Jarran wanted to tell him, it was important enough for him to stick his neck out. Cody let his power drop away, more interested to hear what the young Champion had to say now than he had been before learning of the personal risk involved.

* * *

The two young men settled around the dining table inside the cabin Cody and Lily had taken residence in six months ago, venturing into the Appalachian Mountains looking for a safe haven from the Demon hordes since there was nothing left to fight for. Lily exchanged a few pleasant comments with Jarran as she went about filling a cup of water for him, not knowing what the people of his Realm drank and then started fixing some food for them all. She was the perfect hostess, Cody marveled for a brief moment before giving Jarran a questioning look. The young Champion wrung his hands and sighed, apparently not sure where to start.

"Something is wrong with this world. We're not sure what it is exactly…" Jarran finally started, looking at Cody to gauge his reaction. To the Child of Light, there was obviously something wrong with his world, the Demons had invaded it after all, but Cody suspected there was more to it than that.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like…" Jarran paused, looking up at the ceiling for a moment searching for the right words, "It's like an echo, only it's not."

"That doesn't make any sense." Cody pointed out, arching his eyebrow in skepticism.

"It's as if there is another Earth out there and as time progresses forward, we've been feeling that something is wrong with the Earth that we occupy. As the presence of this other world grows stronger, it feels like this one is decaying, as though it has run its course."

"Another Earth? Like a parallel universe?"

"Not exactly," Jarran said slowly, pausing a second before continuing, "It feels like the same exact Realm except that this other Earth is whole and intact, untouched by my Realm."

"How is that possible?" Cody blurted, a small glimmer of hope igniting inside of him. Perhaps he and Lily could escape to this other Earth and everything would be alright again.

"I have no idea, I was hoping you'd have a theory."

"Why me?"

"Because you're from Boston aren't you?"

"That's where this 'feeling' is?"

"Yes and it's strongest at this one building in particular. A hotel of some sort in the old downtown area."

"The Tipton Hotel?" Cody asked dubiously. There was no way…

"That's it!" Jarran snapped his fingers, nodding in recognition of the name he'd seen on the building while investigating the area a few days prior.

"I used to live there, before the invasion."

"Is there anything there, umm, unusual?" Cody frowned, not sure how to answer the question.

"What exactly do you mean by 'unusual'?"

"I think were dealing with time here, something that could alter events in the space time continuum?"

"Err… I don't know of anything like…" Cody trailed off as he remembered something from years ago. Arwin, the Tipton's eccentric hotel engineer, had been working on creating a machine that could send a person through time. Nothing had ever come of it of course; Cody had noticed his flawed mathematical calculations in addition to believing that the whole idea was improbable at the time. But, what if…?

"Cody?"

"There is something there," Cody said, looking up at Jarran with hope burning brightly in his eyes for the first time in years.

* * *

After explaining his cryptic response, Jarran sat back in his chair and appeared to be thinking something over. Curiosity burned inside Cody and he looked over to see what Lily was doing to take his mind off whatever it was the young Champion was thinking about. She was busy preparing an early evening meal for the three of them, trying to spice up some of their supply of dry and canned food. Finally, when he could stand it no longer, Cody looked back at Jarran and opened his mouth to ask a question.

"That's it!" Jarran stated.

"What?"

"This timeline isn't supposed to exist. We're picking up the echo of the real timeline the closer we get to the event horizon."

"Say what?"

"Here look," Jarran said, glancing around and spotting a notebook on the counter behind him, "May I?" Cody nodded and the young Champion leaned over to retrieve it, flipped it to a blank page and pulled the pen out of the binding. He drew a straight line all the way across, then about a third of the way from the left drew a line downward branching off at an angle eventually connecting to another straight line that ran the remaining two thirds of the page.

"Here is were Chaos invaded Earth," Jarran said, pointing where the two lines diverged, "This top line is the timeline where the Children of Light repulsed the invasion. The bottom line is the timeline we're living in where, for whatever reason, Chaos was not repulsed and Earth was conquered."

"Ok, I'm following you," Cody said as Jarran looked up at him briefly.

"And here," he drew a vertical line that bisected both of the horizontal lines almost on the right edge of the page, "Is where the flow of time is right now."

"What happens when it goes off the page?" Lily asked, coming around and looking over Cody's shoulder.

"The timeline where Earth is undamaged continues on to another page, it is growing so strong that it is almost overwhelming this timeline."

"What about us?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing what?"

"I mean that this timeline ends, right here," Jarran said thumbing the edge of the page, "Everything will cease to exist."

"Maybe it's better if it does… Our Earth is lost, let that other Earth live in peace." Jarran was shaking his head softly.

"No Cody, you don't get it. We're hearing the echo because the timelines are drawing close together. There is something that has to happen soon or both timelines will be obliterated, not just ours. The other Earth is in extreme danger…"

"What has to happen?"

"You have to go back and stop the invasion."

"You don't seriously believe that someone could travel through time and undo all the damage do you?"

"You've already done it, you just have to do it again don't you get it?"

"Paradox," Cody muttered, then, "I'm still having trouble believing that this is actually possible."

"Time travel as you call it is real enough, it's just that Realm Lords usually protect their worlds and prohibit such things from happening in the first place. But in your case…I think this is the solution to all of our problems."

"Our problems?"

"Your family is dead, your people wiped out and your world is in the hands of my Realm. Don't you wish that you could go back and stop the invasion from ever happening?"

"Yes, of course. All the time, but that still doesn't explain what your problem is…"

"I'm sure this won't surprise you, but Demon Lord Ashani has ordered your execution and after you are dead, he will issue one more execution order…"

"Who?"

"Mine."

"Why does he want to kill you?" Cody wondered, unable to understand why the Demon Lord would wish to end the life of one of his Champions.

"You see Cody, once you die, I will cease being an asset to my father and become a liability." All thoughts about time travel came to a screeching halt. An icy chill raced along his spine and goose bumps broke out of his flesh. He was sitting no more than three feet away from the son of the man who was responsible for ordering the invasion of Earth. Cody felt a small spark of anger inside of him, as though he wanted to physically hurt Ashani's son for everything that his father had done, but knew that such a thing was wrong. Cody could see that Jarran was not a blood thirsty and power hungry tyrant like his father. If anything Jarran was more like Cody, pained by the invasion and possessing the power to do something about it, but unable to undo all the damage that had been done.

"The whole reason I exist is to carry on the bloodline should you kill him. He doesn't want me turning against him at some point in the future when I get stronger." Jarran finally said after Cody forced himself to relax, though he was still on edge a little.

"I'm not strong enough to kill him…" Cody shook his head, remembering how terrifyingly powerful Ashani was when he fought Taschen two years ago in Boston.

"Yes you are, he felt your true power when you killed Chiam. He knows that you'll destroy yourself by using it against him, but he also knows that the Children are noble enough to make such a sacrifice. Once Pandora finds you, she will carry out his orders and kill you."

"Pandora once told me that you were like a son to her. That's why she has conveniently failed to find me after all this time isn't it?"

"Yes. She cannot disobey my father's orders, but as long as she can't find you she can't kill you and I stay alive. Pandora knows that I know all of this and both of us agree that this arrangement cannot last indefinitely. My father may send another Champion after you, one without strong ties to me or he might even come after you himself."

"So why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because Pandora and I are looking for a way to keep me alive."

"Which is?"

"You Cody…you're the key to all of this. If you stop my father, your world is safe and I get to go on living."

* * *

Hours passed and after having Jarran go over the entire scenario with Cody multiple times, the Child of Light finally accepted everything he had been told. They all ate the dinner Lily had made and then started planning the trip back to Boston.

Jarran could go there right away he'd explained, using what the Children of Darkness called 'Shadow Step' which is how they could appear anywhere in the world at anytime, but Cody and Lily would have to use more conventional means. Jarran explained that he could bring passengers along in his wake, but he didn't think it wise to try it with someone who had the opposite cosmic power. Cody wasn't sure if traveling with the light was possible like Jarran could with the darkness and didn't know how to do it even if it was.

As night arrived, the plan was finalized. The three of them would travel together to Boston the next day and risk everything on this last hope to save Earth before the timelines were obliterated. Jarran soon left, thanking them for dinner and promising to be back in the morning. After cleaning up Lily asked if Cody needed anything, but he just told her that he wanted to think things over. He found himself thinking about his slain family just as much as he was about their plans for tomorrow. Cody wanted to see them so badly… This had to work, it just had to!

Cody awoke slowly in his chair, he must have fallen asleep at the table while thinking about everything Jarran had told him. There was a pen in his hand and some writing on the open page of the map atlas he had been looking at. He stared at the writing dumbly for a moment, recognizing his own handwriting but not remembering ever having penned the words glaring back at him.

'Remember, big brother is watching'

* * *

**A/N:** …you can calm down now. I know you're angry being kept waiting, but that is the nature of cliffhangers as they say. Cody is a bit of a berserker it seems and we got to see the epic finish of his fight with Chiam in full 'Badass Cody Mode'. I personally love it when Cody picks him up by the breastplate, threatens the other Champions like Chiam with death, spits in his face and then guts him. Totally out of regular Cody's character, but no problem for pissed off berserk mode.

Now our hero is returning to Boston with an unlikely ally to set everything right or die trying. Darkness looms on the horizon and there is no doubt that someone will be waiting there to stop them. Time is running out for Cody and Lily…will they make it in time? What will happen to them when they get to the city? Just how fragile is Jarran's loyalty to his father?

Find out all this and more in **Chapter Twelve: Into The Fire**

**NEW: **Get the latest updates and join in on the discussion in the Chaos Realm forums spanning all the stories in the series here:

**.net/forum/The_Chaos_Realm/70751/**


	13. Into The Fire

**Chapter Twelve**

**"Into The Fire"**

_Sunshine upon my face _

_A new song for me to sing _

_Tell the world how I feel inside _

_Even though it might cost me everything _

_Now that I know this, so beyond, I can't hold this _

_I can never turn my back away_

_"Alive" by P.O.D._

Jarran returned the following morning as promised, unexpectedly bringing bad news for them. The young Champion found them easily behind the cabin where they were loading up another F150 truck Cody had taken from the nearby city at one point and had fixed up. Just as Cody had a unique way of sensing the Children of Darkness, Jarran could sense the other young man quite easily. It didn't matter that Cody wasn't tapped into his power source when Jarran was at such close range. He was feeling alternating sensations of burning and tingling along his limbs and the smell of ozone was prevalent in the air.

"Welcome back Jarran!" Lily greeted as he approached. He smiled and nodded at her, then his face became a mask of grave concern.

"They know something is going on…"

"How bad?" Cody asked, his mildly cheerful attitude disintegrating immediately. There was no need to ask who 'they' were.

"Pandora is guarding Boston and my father is keeping tabs on me. I can't stay long and I can't go with you."

"We can't just give up!"

"Our only hope is for me to keep my father distracted long enough for you to travel back…"

"But what about Pandora?"

"I don't know Cody…evade her if you can. She falls right below my father in strength. I don't know if you could win."

"Well, I guess there isn't anything to lose really…" Cody muttered, looking up at the angry red sky which was host to an ever thickening cloud cover where lightning bolts crisscrossed each other in rapid succession.

"Yeah, we don't have long," Jarran agreed glancing up at the sinister sky as well.

"Jarran?" Lily prompted.

"Yes?"

"How strong are you?" Jarran grinned maliciously.

"I'm not really sure, but I have a feeling I'll find out soon."

* * *

Two days later Cody and Lily finally arrived at the outskirts of Boston assaulted by rapidly worsening conditions. The cloud cover in the ominous red sky was thicker than ever, the world was growing darker and colder while tremors occasionally rocked the ground and the sky lit up with wild colors as lightning flashed back and forth.

Throughout the trip Cody had done his best to stay disconnected from his cosmic power source in order to avoid detection and so far it had seemed to work. Even though he was cut off from the light, he was still able to sense a powerful dark presence ahead and he hoped that Pandora wouldn't be able to pick up on him. If he could get to the Tipton with Lily and jump back through time without hassle, it would be his dream come true.

Cody's heart leapt into his throat and Lily gasped in surprise as a wall of dark smoke surged towards their stopped truck. Here it was…Pandora had found them and was coming to kill them. He shifted into reverse and was about to floor it backwards when Lily's soft hand touched his arm and he checked the impulse.

"It's Jarran," she whispered as the young Champion broke through the wall of darkness and sailed through the air to land next to them.

"You nearly scared us to death!" Cody exclaimed as he exited the truck.

"Sorry, bad news."

"What else is new?"

"My father will be here shortly…"

"Screw it, we've come this far, we might as well see it through to the end."

"Cody… You might, and I stress the word 'might', be able to beat Pandora, but there's no way you could survive against both of them." Jarran stated, giving him a meaningful look.

"I have to try man, what else is there to do?"

"You light realmers are so noble… I'll try and stall him, give you a chance to escape…" Cody could tell that his newfound ally was thinking hard about something. It was obviously a difficult internal struggle as Jarran winced and then bit his lip, unwilling to meet Cody's gaze.

"Thank you Jarran," Cody said, extending his arm and clapping the young Champion on the shoulder. Static electricity sparked for an instant as the contact was made between the two beings of opposing cosmic energies. Jarran gave a half smile as he turned back to look at Cody and then unexpectedly reached into his shirt, pulling off the necklace he wore.

A small jade green pendant hung from a thin back cord, seeming to give off an almost imperceptible glow. The crystalline surface of the pendant had an almost mesmerizing quality to it. Jarran brushed his thumb across the surface of it, sighed deeply and extended it to Cody.

"I want you to take this back with you Cody,"

"I…I can't take your stuff…" Cody protested meekly.

"This crystal contains an echo of my mother's soul. I never knew who she was, but if you should ever find her, please tell her about her son."

"Jarran…"

"Just take it. Besides, I have a feeling it will come in handy if you should ever lose all hope for the future again."

"Ok," Cody finally acceded, letting the pendant fall into his hand. He stared at it for a moment, realizing that Jarran was right. There was definitely something supernatural about this gem and it did seem to lift his spirits a little bit.

"You need to go on foot from here. The dragons and wraiths will spot the movement of that thing and Pandora will be on you in an instant."

"Got it."

"Good luck Cody."

"Same to you."

* * *

They had come full circle Cody realized as he and Lily silently crept along in the shadows of the ruined city, fearful that a Champion of Chaos would soon discover them as they had been two years ago while navigating the immense length of the underground subway tunnels in complete darkness. Occasionally Cody would duck inside mostly intact stores and rummage around for a bit. Lily followed him inside, careful to avoid stepping on broken glass. Boston was deathly silent and they feared that any loud noise would instantly give away their position.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, observing Cody as he fiddled around with a cash register at the checkout counter.

"We may need money to get around back in the past," he answered silently. The drawer popped free with a loud click and he froze, listening for any sign that something or someone might have heard them. Then, satisfied that they were safe for the time being, he removed several bills from the register that hadn't deteriorated and stuffed them into his wallet.

As they approached the store's front door, a deep bellow filled the air and Cody pulled Lily away from the blasted out windows. Even in the failing day light they could see a large shadow ripple across the street outside and disappear further into the city. If they hadn't gotten off the streets when they did, they would have been spotted by that dragon no doubt about it. He exhaled the breath that he had been holding in relief and became puzzled when he felt Lily shaking.

"Lily what…?"

"We're not going to make it there are we?" she asked in a small voice, turning to look him in the eyes. She was surprised to see him grinning.

"We're already there," Cody said, looking around again and imagining Paul Revere's Mini Market as it once had been with his mind's eye, "I used to work here and the Tipton is just around the corner."

Lily visibly relaxed and even looked a little embarrassed. She went to apologize for acting foolish when Cody cut her off with a finger pressed against her lips.

"We just have to get there without being seen, find the time machine and then we're gone. It's as simple as that."

* * *

Getting to the Tipton without raising alarm was easy, getting inside of it was a different matter. The front entrance was blocked by fallen debris from the upper floors which had been sheared off during the invasion and several cars that had been left abandoned and were crushed beneath the upper floors. Cody led the way into the building through a service entrance on the side of the Tipton, clicking on his flashlight as he went. He examined the hallway, the beam of light tracking slowly from one side to the other, looking for any sign of danger. When Lily quietly closed the door behind them all light from the outside was snuffed out and he knew that there was no going back now.

He wasn't sure how to get to the basement from here, but he could get there from the lobby. If he remembered correctly, all they had to do was follow the hallway, take a left where it split into two different directions and they would come out just off the lobby's main entrance. In another time he and Zack could have been seen running jubilantly, evading Mr. Moseby's wrath, through the passage he and Lily now crept across in silence.

They exited through another door and nearly found themselves inside the lobby. Cody scanned the area with his flashlight, noting that the roof had fallen in on the right side and that the bank of elevators had been obliterated, possibly by the elevator cars crashing down into the basement levels. The way to Arwin's downstairs office however was unblocked. He took a step forward and a wave of vertigo washed over him and the space around him warped and became brighter.

The lobby was exactly as Cody had remembered it in his dreams, except this time it was devoid of a boy on the verge of emotional collapse fleeing from a small army of monsters. There was Irene the concierge, talking to a guest on the telephone recommending a movie theater that had a good restaurant within walking distance for a late dinner. Against the far wall near the elevators was Maddie Fitzpatrick at the candy counter, absorbed in one of the newest fashion magazines. On the left was Mr. Moseby himself, the Tipton's strict manager, looking over at Maddie.

"I pay you to sell those, not read them Madeline," Moseby quipped.

"An informed employee is a good employee Mr. Moseby." Maddie replied, turning the page. Moseby made his customary growl and she put the magazine up on the rack behind her then turned around with a bored look on her face.

The vertigo passed and the lobby was returned to its devastated appearance, devoid of the Tipton's former employees. Lily gripped his arm tightly in surprise.

"What was that?" She whispered.

"I don't know…" Cody trailed off, then remembering what Jarran had told them, "Maybe it's one of those echoes." It certainly seemed possible. They had both seen a vision of the hotel intact and its staff alive and well.

"Yeah…" Lily agreed, then gasped as another wave of vertigo overcame them and the lobby changed once again.

"If you'll wait a moment I can call their room and have them come down…?" Mr. Moseby's voice could be heard saying from the check in counter. The elevator dinged softly in the background and before Cody could see who Mr. Moseby was talking to a terrific crashing noise followed by what sounded like an avalanche came from across the lobby.

Everyone looked around to see what had happened. A pile of luggage was lying haphazardly on the floor. The luggage groaned. Rather, Esteban the bellhop who was buried underneath the luggage groaned.

"I'm ok!" He called out in a dazed, heavily accented, voice, "Zee carpet broke my fall." Someone scrambled out from under the mess beside Esteban.

"ZACK!!" Moseby hollered at the boy who was getting to his feet, decked out in a helmet, safety pads and roller skates. Time seemed to slow down as Cody stood rooted where he was staring at his brother. He felt his heart ache seeing Zack alive again and up to mischief as always. An involuntary twitch of movement passed through him, a desire to run up and hug Zack, before Cody halted the movement. The echo faded as Zack glided past on his skates headed for the door with Mr. Moseby in hot pursuit threatening him with all manner of punishments.

"Cody? Was that your brother?" Lily asked, then when he didn't answer she looked up at him in concern, noticing the dazed expression on his face. Seeing his brother alive and well again was almost too much to bear.

"You'll see him again really soon," she continued, stepping in front of him and turning to give him a comforting hug. Cody held her for a minute, his head tilted into the crook of her neck. The comfort was never meant to last, for he began to sense danger nearby. It eluded him for a moment, then he realized that it was coming from beneath his feet. There were demons here in the Tipton, and they were waiting for him in the basement.

"Wraiths," Cody whispered, breaking away from her and walking deeper into the lobby. He couldn't be sure, but he had the strangest intuition that this feeling of danger was linked to the dark creatures that could only be killed by bright light.

"Where?" Lily asked, looking in all directions and drawing her pistol.

"Basement. They're waiting for us."

"So what do we do?"

"You," Cody said, emphasizing the world, "Will stay up here where it's safe and I'll go hunt them down." He pulled off his backpack and dug out the powerful industrial grade flashlight they had found at a construction site awhile back. Its blinding white halogen bulb produced a stream of light bright enough to destroy the Wraiths without making Cody have to rely on his power and give away his position to the enemy. She frowned and placed her hands on her hips. Lily hated being separated from him almost as much as she hated it when men gave her orders. Almost.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"They're after me first and foremost. They're waiting for me down there. I can't let them use you against me. You remember what happened back in Raleigh right?" Cody argued, bringing up the time a year ago when they had been traveling through North Carolina in search of supplies to take to their hideout at the time. They had stumbled into a large party of Demons and one of the Orcs had been intelligent enough to capture Lily and threaten to kill her if Cody continued slaughtering them with Excalibur. It was a close call, but they just barely made it out of there alive.

"Fine!" Lily hissed, throwing up her hands in defeat, "But if you're gone for more than ten minutes I'm coming in after you." Cody smiled, he didn't doubt that one bit. Just as he was protective of her, she was protective of him making sure he got enough rest, food, proper medical attention when he got injured and made sure he stayed warm on the coldest nights when they were without heat. Come to think of it, Cody enjoyed those nights.

"I'll be right back, I promise!" he assured her. She reached up, for Cody was half a head taller than her, and placed her hand against his cheek making him turn to directly face her.

"You'd better," Lily laughed, pulling him down slightly so that their lips met. It was a brief kiss, but it conveyed a wealth of emotion that only years of companionship could bring about; companionship which had eventually blossomed into true love.

* * *

The basement was quiet as a tomb, but even without his extra sensory perception when it came to feeling creatures of darkness, Cody could tell that the enemy lay in wait down here. The air hung thick with tension and the whole place felt wrong somehow. His small flashlight shone all the way down the corridor and revealed nothing. In his other hand he carried the bright halogen light, switched off for the moment in order to have the element of surprise, ready to use it to destroy the Wraiths when they finally came out of their hiding spot.

Opening the first door, Cody tensed as he expected to be attacked and was relieved when he found nothing waiting for him except the Tipton's emergency generators. He cleared the next few rooms, finding nothing more than the hotel's air conditioning and heating systems for the lower floors, plumbing, electrical wiring and fuse boxes. Cody opened one of the last doors and a Demon jumped out at him.

He leapt back, heart pounding with adrenaline and shielded himself with his left arm as he aimed the halogen into the supply closet. There was no shriek of Wraiths as they were destroyed by the light, instead there was just a loud clattering noise as a wooden broom handle fell out of the closet and smacked against the ground.

"Dammit," Cody hissed under his breath, sure that the abnormally loud noise had given him away. As if to confirm his suspicion, he heard strange high pitched whistling noises come from further ahead. They were waiting for him in Arwin's office, there was no doubt about it now and Cody gathered his courage together as he proceeded directly to the engineer's workplace. Forgoing the element of surprise, Cody shone the bright white light on the door, took a deep breath and lashed out with his foot.

The door gave way, whipping inward and to the left as Cody kicked it in. Before his eyes could even adjust on what was inside the room, several Demons shrieked as the light hit them dead on and they burst into smoke. These weren't Wraith's though, their sounds and screams were all wrong and Cody realized that their outlines were much different as he finally got a better view of them.

One of the few Demons left erupted with a wail so powerful that it literally made the air ripple as the sound waves passed through. Cody dropped the flashlights without conscious through as both hands clamped over his ears, the powerful halogen light making a cracking noise as it hit the concrete and going dark. The sound was so loud and painful, it felt as if his brain was going to burst out of his skull. Cody dropped to his knees still keeping his hands clamped over his ears, fingers digging into the scalp of his head. Tears ran down his cheeks at the same time he screamed in agony, wishing for nothing more than for the pain to stop.

Cody didn't realize that the wailing had stopped, but he did see the two Banshees, for it was the only fitting name he could give them, dart forward out of the office and come straight at him. He twisted around in the instant before they hit him and they just narrowly missed him as Cody fell face first on the ground. He knew he had to get up and retaliate, but the halogen was broken. What then? He raced through his memories of the Tipton trying to come up with an idea, but he just didn't have the time. The Banshees had stopped and were turning to come back at him, gliding silently across the floor.

He raised a hand in a stopping gesture, trying to shield himself and was surprised when he felt a charge of energy race through his body and explode out of his hand. A golden lance of light stretched down the corridor and erased the Banshees from existence. Relieved to be alive, Cody quickly realized that the instinctive action had given himself away. Ignoring the pounding headache he now possessed, Cody pushed himself off the ground and got to his feet. He was out of time, he had to figure out how to get the time machine going before the Champions of Chaos arrived. With any luck he had already been gone for ten minutes and Lily would come down here and join him just as he got it working.

Retrieving the weaker flashlight, Cody entered Arwin's office and cleared a path through fallen desks and cabinets to his workshop. There it was, seemingly untouched by the passage of time and the damage the Tipton had suffered, against the far wall looking like some sort of high tech phone booth. His heart still racing and aware of the fact the Champions would be here soon, Cody became overwhelm by the task at hand. This was too complicated!

"Calm down and think Cody!" He chastised himself, "The time machine's intact and working, it just needs a power source and controls."

The control panel was on the side of the machine and Cody pressed the power button, disappointed to find that it was dead. What now? He examined the machine further and found that it was running off of electricity which no longer existed in this world.

"Come on Arwin, you would have had a backup plan!" Cody exclaimed, looking around the office for something helpful. He blinked in surprise when he found a stack of three rectangular objects stacked on top of one another with the words 'Heavy Duty, High Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery' stenciled onto aluminum tags which also displayed the manufacturer's name, tech support number, warnings and serial numbers. Cody picked one up, surprised at how heavy they were and lugged it over to the time machine.

There were three rectangular slots behind the machine, each the size of one of the batteries and upon closer examination Cody saw that the battery's connecters lined up with the pins in the machine. He placed the huge battery into the first slot and heard a satisfying click as it locked into place.

"Thank you Arwin!" Cody cheered, racing back to get the other two batteries and plug them in. When he pressed the power button on the control panel this time he was rewarded by a hum of power passing through the machine as it powered up and the computer ran through its startup sequence. Dust blew out from the exhaust port and lights came on as the whole machine started to vibrate for several seconds before it settled down.

"All systems online and operational," a feminine computerized voice announced.

"CODY MARTIN, GET OUT HERE!" Another female voice boomed. Then the ground heaved underneath his feet and he was thrown off balance, staggering into several cardboard boxes and tumbling head first over them. Dazed, Cody was aware of a powerful rumbling passing through the ground as though something heavy was crashing down on top of him. The concrete walls cracked and dust fell from the ceiling as an alarm went off and red lights started to flash.

"System failure! Power supply damaged! Power levels dropping to unsafe operational levels!" The time machine announced, snapping Cody back to reality. It was all over now. It had been too good to be true all along. Cody had been ambushed, the time machine was damaged and now Pandora was right outside, bringing the Tipton down on top of him.

How could he have ever believed him? Ashani's son was a Child of Darkness and nothing could ever change that. Jarran had betrayed Cody and delivered him straight into Pandora's hands.

* * *

**A/N:** And so the end begins…

Special thanks for WaldoJeffers for picking up the story just recently and giving every chapter a well thought out review. Special thanks must also go to Tiger002 and Wyntirsno for being a part of the story planning discussion on the Chaos Realm forums (h t t p : / / forum. fanfiction. net/ forum/The_Chaos_Realm/70751/).

This chapter SUCKED to write with the next one already half written and burning a hole in my brain! You'll see why when you flip the page. Thanks for getting me over this writer's block everyone =)


	14. No Win Scenario

**Chapter Thirteen**

**"No Win Scenario"**

_I tried to be someone else  
But nothing seemed to change  
I know now, this is who I really am inside  
Falling from myself  
Falling for a chance  
I know now, this is who I really am_

_"The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars_

There was nothing left for Cody Martin to do except to face the music. His last chance to set the world back in order was gone, his family was dead and gone, he'd been betrayed by someone who he believed could have been called a friend in a different time and worst of all Lily was missing. Cody had told her to remain hidden in Moseby's office which was now buried under rubble along with half of the lobby. How the Tipton was still standing was anyone's guess.

"Where is she?" Cody demanded of Pandora who stood not ten feet away, beautiful as ever and clad in her elegant pitch black armor.

"Dead."

Cody snarled at her, directing all his hate towards her, tricking his mind into believing that killing Pandora would ease his grief and the pain of loss. Lily was his only companion, his only friend and the first girl whom he had ever totally given himself to. He belonged to her and she belonged to him.

"You bitch!" Cody screamed at her. His vision turned red and he could think only of exacting revenge upon the person who had taken his Lily from him.

"Such a foul mouth," Pandora said calmly, unperturbed by his outburst, "Are you going to do something about it?"

Cody tapped into the light so abruptly that the sudden surge of power nearly lifted him off the ground. He felt himself become lighter, signaling that the power of the light would grant him super human speed and agility. Next his muscles tightened and relaxed as the cosmic power source passed through them, giving them more strength, endurance and faster recovery times. The very last changes to his body came next as he felt his entire frame harden, making him more resistant to physical impacts and an aura of golden light began to radiate around him providing an extra layer of protection.

Excalibur came next, first appearing in Cody's hand as a shaft of golden light that rapidly took shape and materialized into the familiar appearance of his soulbound long sword. Unexpected, but not unwelcome, his kite shield flashed into existence attached to his forearm with strong leather straps and a sturdy grip on the back side of the aegis for his left hand to grip.

Pandora struck before he was ready, but Cody's lightning quick reflexes reacted almost with a mind of their own and he raised his shield above his head. Pandora's sword, Valkyrie, struck with incredible force making Cody stagger backwards a couple of steps. As the resounding echo of the initial impact faded Pandora was already on the attack again, sending her blade under his raised shield and straight at Cody's torso intending to run him through. He lowered his shield to deflect it and brought Excalibur across his body in an awkward sweeping motion catching Pandora's sword between the two and just barely deflecting it past his left leg. The edge of her blade sliced through his jeans and grazed his thigh.

Then, before he could even feel relief at avoiding the fatal blow Pandora's forward motion brought her full weight slamming into Cody's shield and toppled him. He went down hard, arms doing the windmill motion and legs doing the backward thousand mile steps faster and faster trying to regain balance. His back landed on top of piece of raised pavement that drove the breath from his lungs at the same time his head snapped against the unforgiving surface.

Cody opened and closed his mouth trying to suck in oxygen, looking much like a fish out of water, and drew nothing into his body. He felt the chill of death touch him, his whole body wriggling and writhing as it was quickly deprived of oxygen. Pandora appeared standing over him, her outline distorted by the tears that blurred his vision. He knew that he had to get up and defend himself, but he just couldn't summon the strength to do so. She was saying something to him, but all he heard was a loud rushing noise.

He willed his arm to pull the shield over top of him instinctively just in the nick of time as Pandora's blade fell straight down intending to deprive him of his life. The impact pressed his shield into him, compacting his body slightly and putting more pressure on the starved lungs in his chest. _'Get off me!'_ Cody screamed in his head.

A pulse of light blasted outward from him, cratering the ground beneath him and throwing Pandora a short distance through the air. Cody scrambled to his feet and leaned heavily on Excalibur for support, he knew he had plenty of energy and endurance to fight, but he'd been crippled by such a basic human need. He briefly wondered if the armor Pandora wore, and the armor Lily had said she had seen him in while he killed Chiam, protected the wearer from such things.

Finally a tiny breath of air entered his body and it made Cody feel a million times better. His breaths came faster, each one pulling in more oxygen. He felt rejuvenated and refreshed and took the initiative for the first time.

A bright lance of golden light stretched from Cody's shield hand towards Pandora. Her eyes widened in surprise and it looked as if the surprise attack was going to succeed for a second. Then Cody's hopes were crushed as she twisted her body to avoid it, the trailing wave of the light singing her shoulder pauldron and then she was on him again.

Cody blocked her first swing and then their swords met for the first time in a shower of sparks as he parried her next attack. He quickly gave ground with each exchange, realizing how outmatched he was. Oh Cody had the skill alright, he was deadly confident in what he was doing with his sword and shield and there was nothing Pandora could do to break through his defenses except to wear him down for she was much stronger and much faster than he was. The strength of her power in darkness greatly exceeded his strength with the light.

"How did you kill Chiam?" She asked, breaking into Cody's thoughts, her tone indicating how surprised she was having easily overcome his limited abilities.

Cody needed more power to defeat her. Power that he didn't have. He wished the power he'd unknowingly wielded to kill Chiam would come back to him now without making him lose control, but it didn't. Perhaps it was because he didn't see Pandora kill Lily as he had seen Chiam kill Matthew, but whatever the reason being he couldn't summon the same level of anger and hatred to unlock his true strength.

Jarran had said that Cody could defeat Ashani with his true strength, for they had felt the depths of his power in the battle against Chiam and that such a release of energy would destroy himself as well. Knowing that, Cody wondered how the hell he was supposed to even tap into that power; control or no control. He had nothing left to lose now that would push him over the edge again. There was nothing and no one left…

All his dreams for meeting out justice to those responsible for the death of Earth and all of its children and all his hopes to make a better future for those still living or going back in time to set everything right died right there with that realization. Cody no longer tried to attack as a creeping numbness overcame him and he merely continued to give ground as he blocked Pandora's assaults. Soon he was putting less strength into his blocks and parries, each time allowing Pandora to get that much closer to killing him.

What did he care though? What did he have to live for now anyway? He'd failed the human race just like he'd failed Mom, Dad, Zack, Matt, Lily and everyone else who had died trying to protect him.

He'd been betrayed.

He'd failed everyone.

He dismissed his shield and jumped backwards a good ten feet through the air away from Pandora. His sword point rested against the ground as he landed back on the street. Cody was totally open to attack and this more than anything else made Pandora hesitate.

"Fight me!"

"I'm done fighting…" Cody said softly. He let Excalibur slip from his hand and clatter noisily on the ground as he powered down, his aura of golden light fading away. His shoulders slumped in defeat, there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no way he could stand a chance against Pandora without losing control of himself like he had two years ago while fighting Chiam.

"You are a Champion of this Realm, you cannot just quit!" Pandora exclaimed in disbelief, unable to believe that this world's last remaining defender was prepared to lay down his arms and accept his fate. Never before had she seen something like this…

"Yes, I can," Cody looked upward to the heavens, imagining that he could see his parents, Zack, Matt, Lily and the rest of his friends looking down upon him, "I'll be with you shortly."

He'd given up, Pandora was sure of it now. This was no deception. The Truth Seeker had surrendered himself to the inevitable fate that awaited him. His eyes closed as he basked in the warmth of the late afternoon sunlight and his body visibly relaxed. The crimson light of the dying world cast Cody in a strange radiance, making his blond hair glow softly as his chin turned upward towards the sky. Battered, bruised, emotionally broken and clothing in tatters, Pandora had never seen a sight quite so breathtaking. These Children of Light, they possessed an almost angelic quality. Beautiful, not a single cruel bone in their bodies and their hearts filled with nothing but love and compassion for all life no matter how strong dark emotions towards others clouded their minds.

She both admired this young man and pitied him at the same time. He was just like her little cousin and it pained her to know that by killing Cody, she was condemning Jarran to death as well.

However, she could not disobey her Demon Lord.

Cody reeled backwards as agonizing pain washed over him. Without his aura of light to deflect or absorb metaphysical attacks Pandora's negative energy slammed into the young man's chest, burning through his clothing, flesh, bones and internal organs in the blink of an eye. The beam ripped out through his back and he dropped like an unstrung puppet.

Cody Martin was dead before he hit the ground.

* * *

**…To Be Continued**


	15. Capacity For Evil

**Chapter Fourteen**

**"Capacity For Evil"**

_Even if I say  
It'll be alright  
Still I hear you say  
You want to end your life  
Now and again we try  
To just stay alive  
Maybe we'll turn it around  
'Cause it's not too late  
It's never too late_

_"Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace_

Pandora stood over the corpse of the dead Child of Light, shocked that she had beaten her little brother's killer so easily. She circled around him slowly and cautiously, for she had seen many tricks in her days. He certainly seemed dead, especially with a hole punched clean through him. The broken young man lay in a pool of his own blood which was slowly spreading outward in all directions.

Crouching down beside him, Pandora placed two fingers underneath his jaw and on top of the jugular vein feeling for a pulse. Satisfied that his vital signs were non existent and feeling no power radiating from him, Pandora allowed herself to relax. She felt odd, as if she had been cheated out of a spectacular final climatic battle between herself and Earth's last Champion by Cody's surrender.

Now came the part she dreaded Pandora thought as she started walking away from Cody's lifeless body. She would have to return to the Chaos Realm and inform Ashani that the Truth Seeker was dead, sealing young Jarran's fate.

There was an odd scuffling sound that came from behind her and she paused in her step, turning to locate the source of the noise. Cody's body lie still on the ground where it had fallen and everything around him remained as it had been. Nothing stirred. Pandora assumed that she was just hearing things and continued walking.

Forming a mental picture of where she wanted to go in the Chaos Realm, Pandora prepared to Shadow Step across Realms and report in. She stopped when a strange feeling overcame her. It was the same sort of sensation whenever she felt the presence of a Child of Light or Darkness, but it was different at the same time. This presence was giving off mixed signals and she didn't know what to make of it.

Then she heard the scuffling sound again…

Pandora turned around…

Cody Martin stared back at her, his upper body propped up by his arms. Pandora's heart leapt into her throat in alarm upon seeing him alive. She had killed him, through and through! She couldn't possibly be getting tricked! He was too weak for such a thing!

"I will not be killed so easily," the young man hissed, rising to his feet. There was something wrong about him Pandora sensed, aside from the fact that he was still alive and his fatal wound had somehow mended itself. Cody's head tilted upward in a slow dramatic motion and his gaze settled upon on her. It was the eyes she realized, they were no longer bluish-green, but amber colored.

His eyes bored into her soul and she somehow knew that this was not the same person she had just killed. It may have been Cody Martin's body alright, but the Truth Seeker was no longer home. In its place, a sinister presence had taken residence.

"Who are you?" She asked, compelled by her curiosity and this strange turn of events. The young man dusted his hands off and licked his dry lips which were rapidly forming a feral smile.

"Your worst nightmare," he responded cryptically, flexing his arms and stretching out his legs, admiring the movement as if unaccustomed to controlling his limbs.

"We'll see about that," Pandora said acidly, accepting his challenge. She whipped her sword around, the obsidian blade screaming as it cleaved through the air an instant before it would split his body in two straight down the middle. She blinked in surprise as her blade bit into the concrete. Cody had sidestepped her attack so quickly that she hadn't realized he'd moved.

Before Pandora could even think about recovering, his left hand clamped down onto her right forearm for a brief instant, denying her the use of her physical weapon and he drew his right arm back and backhanded her across the face releasing her at the same time. Pain exploded in her head as she felt herself lift up off the ground and get thrown backwards by the force of the blow. Partially dazed, Pandora quickly regained her feet and took a couple of staggering steps backward steadying herself. The side of her face where Cody had hit her was bright red and throbbed with a stinging pain.

Cody straightened, but didn't move toward her. He just stood there with that stupid malicious grin on his face, as if daring her to try again. Anger coursed through her. She wouldn't be made a fool of like this.

Pandora's power surged to new heights as she pulled more darkness into her body, quickly achieving her maximum power limit. Her aura of reddish pink light pulsated and the space around her seemed to grow darker. She looked quite menacing like this, but if her appearance had any affect on Cody, he sure didn't show it.

"Is that all you've got?" He asked. Pandora was about to issue a scathing reply when she realized that Cody was powering up and closed her mouth.

The world around them grew eerily silent as the air pressure rose, pressing down upon their bodies. Beneath their feet the earth started to tremor and lightning crackled overhead. Cody stared back at her, his amber eyes now ablaze with brilliant light as his power began to swell. Pandora had never felt anything like it before.

Golden light surrounded Cody's body and pressed down upon him at the same time dark smoke appeared and settled on top of the light that was conforming to his body shape. The two opposite cosmic forces bonded together and solidified into a physical manifestation.

Cody was now encased inside a suit of armor similar to Pandora's, though unlike the rumors she had heard from the Demons present when Chiam had been killed his armor was different this time. Before she had heard that it was mostly gold as befitting the Truth Seeker whose light took on that particular color, but now it was almost as dark as hers. It was as if the colors had inverted and now his armor was primarily a dark slate grey highlighted in gold.

Surrounded by an aura of energy that pulsated back and forth from light to dark, donned in dark armor with his blond hair gently waving in the air currents created by his power Cody Martin did not resemble the noble warrior who had defeated Chiam. It was Pandora who described him the best. He looked beautiful, but deadly just the same.

"You are not the Truth Seeker. You are not Cody Martin."

"Nope," he agreed, the devilish smile still plastered onto that handsome face of his. Pandora frowned, she wanted to sink her armored fist into his flesh and wipe that damn smile from his lips. She must have flinched involuntarily because Cody reacted to it, a heavy two handed sword swung down upon her and she just barely avoided the metallic silver blur as it grazed her armor. It was Excalibur, but like its master it had been twisted and changed into this new form.

Cody was very fast, Pandora doubted that she could take him in close quarters. She would just have to kill him with a lance of negative energy again like last time. Taking to the air she dismissed Valkyrie and pulled in an enormous amount of negative energy into her hands. As she spun around to reacquire her target, she found that he was rising through the air with her, barely ten feet away. His powerful aura warped the sagging frames of the skyscrapers that were still standing as he rose, dislodging entire sections of the buildings he passed sending debris tumbling back to the ground.

"I'll give you one freebie," Cody said in a taunting manner as he drew level with her. Pandora didn't even bother to acknowledge as she launched her devastating attack which by all rights should have annihilated him. Instead, she watched in disbelief as the negative energy melted away upon contact with his aura, the remnants of her attack bleeding off all around his body but leaving Cody untouched.

"My turn!" Pandora was already moving to avoid his retaliatory strike, knowing how fast he was and this alone saved her life. A lance of neon green light ripped through the air right where she had been a second earlier, the heat and raw power emanating from it singed her armor. Thin wisps of grey smoke rose from her right side while the beam continued past her, slamming into a nearby building. The green light detonated with an uncontrolled fury, blasting out the middle floors and causing the top half to come crashing down onto the bottom half, toppling the entire building.

He didn't stop there…

Pandora was forced to dodge a fusillade of neon green beams as Cody fired them at her in rapid succession, never seeming to tire, indiscriminately destroying entire city blocks in the process. For a time he even lost interest in her and set about demolishing everything around him.

While he was distracted, Pandora took her chance and closed the distance between them. She wasn't sure what she was going to do to stop him, but she knew that being the object of his target practice wasn't going to get her anywhere. She never got the chance to come up with a plan as Cody suddenly turned and delivered a bone breaking punch. Just before he connected with her, Pandora threw up her arms to protect herself.

The thunderous impact reversed her momentum, cracked her armor and sent her sailing backwards into one of the undamaged skyscrapers of downtown Boston. Pandora crashed through the outer wall and was eventually stopped about half way through the building. Cody followed her in through the hole she had made.

The building around her disintegrated as it was blasted away in all directions by Cody's powerful aura. None of the debris hit her due to the fact that his energy was deflecting them around her. In fact several chunks of the outer wall and multiple pieces of office equipment were now swirling around him as if he stood at the center of some demented cyclone.

"Now do you know who I am?" Cody asked her, his golden eyes boring into her soul once more. Now it hit her. All the fantastic stories she had been told as a child, all of the myths she had read to Jarran when he was a little boy to put him to sleep… They were all coming back to her and one story stood out above them all.

"I thought it was a myth…the Black Knight…I don't believe it…" Cody nodded, that damn smile returning to his lips. Pandora never even saw what killed her. One moment she had been gaping at the young man floating before her and the next her body was floating towards the earth, her armor fading away. The last thing she saw was the form of Cody Martin, his body co-opted by the creature from the Chaos Realm's darkest myth, watching her fall away. He was still smiling cruelly…

* * *

Deep down, the soul of the Truth Seeker lived on inside the body it had chosen eighteen years ago and the real Cody Martin was locked away in a distant corner of his own mind, oblivious to everything that had happened. There was another soul and mind there with him, one that had simply been along for the ride the past two years existing just outside of Cody's perception where it watched over him. Now it sensed that it was time for it to act.

As the Black Knight's chaotic rampage through the city continued as he sought to destroy everything in sight, inside of him there was a dark and quiet place where Cody existed. He was sitting down, seemingly upon thin air in the dark void, with his knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them and face pressed into them sobbing uncontrollably. Everything was gone, so far as he knew being unaware of the events that had transpired since Pandora had struck him down. Cody believed that he had lost everything he loved, thrown away humanity's last chance for redemption and forfeited his own life for nothing. For even in death there was no great after life, there was just this dark place that filled his heart with despair with no escape and no hope of being with his loved ones ever again. There was no peace in this rest…

"Cody?" a soft voice called out to him, its owner sitting down next to him.

"Leave me alone…" Cody said miserably, not bothering to look up.

"It's not over yet."

"Yes it is! I've screwed up everything!" Cody cried, feeling a pair of arms gently encircle his chest and draw him back. He was too upset to resist the comfort that this stranger was offering.

"You're not dead. You can still save us all." This was too much for him to take and he looked over his shoulder, ready to deliver a scathing reply when the words died in his mouth.

"Zack?" His twin brother smiled at the recognition.

"The one and only little bro!" In that instant, seeing the smiling face and feeling the warm embrace of his twin who looked just as he had the day that he was killed, Cody felt like everything would be alright. He didn't even bother to doubt his twin's appearance. If anyone was going to come and offer him comfort in this dark place, it would be Zack.

"I've missed you so much Zack."

"I've missed you too man, now how about we get you out of here eh?"

"We're dead Zack, there's nowhere to go..." Zack just shook his head.

"No Cody, you're trapped inside your own mind. I can help you escape, but you have to help me take back your body." Cody looked at him, hearing the pleading in Zack's voice and seeing the sincerity in his eyes. Zack wouldn't lie to him.

"Tell me what to do."

* * *

Without warning the Black Knight staggered forward, lost his balance and fell onto his hands and knees as if something had hit him from behind. He knew no such thing had happened, for he would have been able to evade any incoming attacks no matter how surprising they might be. His arms started to wobble dangerously at the same time his legs started shaking from the effort of holding his body up and he flexed his muscles unsuccessfully in response. He wanted to stand up, but his limbs didn't seem to have the strength to hold him up any more.

"What is happening…?" Cody grunted in annoyance. His flesh warmed uncomfortably and he broke into a sweat. It was getting harder to breathe too, every breath felt like it was being drawn from the inside of a hot oven. The warmth soon turned into searing pain, as though his flesh was breaking out into third degree burns. Nausea overcame him and he fought back the urge to expel the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

Cody crawled forward a few feet not knowing what else to do other than to follow the instinctive movement to get away from the danger. His vision blurred, refocused and then blurred again casting the hellish world into a nightmare of colors and streaks of light crisscrossing each other. Then his body simply gave out and he fell forward onto his face.

The Black Knight groped for purchase at the ground and kicked out his legs in agony as the inferno burning inside of him continued to rage. He knew that something beyond his current level of awareness was the cause of his loss of control and he searched inside of his host body for the boy's soul. He was surprised, and even somewhat afraid, to find another powerful soul fighting alongside the Truth Seeker's. Cody managed to sneer in hatred and turned his head to one side, trying to breathe the hot and thick air better. A brief battle broke out between the two souls trying to reclaim control of the body and the Black Knight. He was extremely powerful, but these two were proving to be more than a match for him as they went about weakening his hold upon the host body.

Rolling onto his back, Cody briefly flailed his arms and legs in an involuntary response to the internal struggle. His muscles tightened and seized up, making the limbs almost impossible to move now. Cody's back arched upward as a sharp pain raced along his spine like lightning, causing him to see bright spots of light.

"NOOO!!!" The Black Knight screamed as the pain slammed into him so hard that he no longer felt any of it. His body grew cold and heavy as he lost control of it. The numbness of his now immobile host frightened him greatly. With total control now lost, his senses began to shut off. The world grew silent, the smell of burnt metal and ash vanished from the air, he felt the ground beneath him fall away and finally his blurred vision faded to darkness. The Black Knight knew complete terror at his helplessness in the seconds before his soul was completely dislodged from his host.

* * *

**A/N:** Bet you didn't see that one coming! The Black Knight, a being from the Chaos Realm's most ancient myths awakens inside Cody after he has given up and died, but the Knight's power is too great to be defeated by an ordinary death and he restores Cody's body in order to use it to go on a rampage.

Pandora goes down in flames at the hands of the Black Knight's awesome power, but even he has a weakness. The bigger they are, the harder they fall and with Zack's help, Cody is able to push the invader out of his body.

But what happens now?

**…to be continued**


	16. Hero

**Chapter Fifteen**

**"Hero"**

_If I stay it won't be long  
Till I'm burning on the inside  
If I go I can only hope  
That I make it to the other side  
If you want to get out alive  
Hold on for your life  
If you want to get out alive  
Hold on for your life_

_"Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace_**  
**

Cody groaned as he sat up, the sudden movement causing his head to swim. He was beaten. It felt like he had been run over. Repeatedly.

From head to toe there was nothing but sore muscles, tender bruises and fresh cuts in his flesh. His head pounded with a terrible headache, his throat was dry as if he had a cold, both arms and legs felt like they weighed as much as anvils. Needless to say, Cody was exhausted to the bone. Suddenly remembering the searing pain that he had endured what seemed like only seconds ago Cody's right hand flew up to his chest.

Looking down he saw that his shirt was soaked in blood, almost certainly his for he couldn't remember anything beyond Pandora's fatal attack, and probed around the burnt edges of the hole in his shirt. Underneath the thin layer of blood that coated his upper body, his fingers touched the warm and fully intact flesh over his breastbone.

He could have sworn the beam of negative energy went through him before everything went black. Surely it should have killed him? How was he still alive? Wait… Where was Pandora now?

Cody looked around for the powerful woman and neither saw nor sensed her. It was as if she had dropped off the face of the planet. Her presence was gone from Boston. Either she had left, which was unlikely since Cody was still alive or she was dead. Had he gone into his berserk mode again and killed her himself? Cody couldn't be sure, but whatever the case may be, he was glad to be rid of her.

Then depression set in again. He had wanted to die and go be with his family in heaven. Cody was tired of living this now empty life with no other way to escape it. What was he to do now? Walk around in a city devoid of human life, his lover and only companion probably dead now thanks to him, kicking himself over his failure to utilize Arwin's time machine with his world only hours away from intersecting and obliterating the unsuspecting peaceful Earth of the other timeline?

"It's not fair," Cody muttered, picking up a piece of plaster in the debris pile he was sitting next to and crumbling it into dust with his hand, "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Cody hastily stood up, looked around for the Tipton and screamed again, directing his self pity at the Hotel where he had lost nearly every person he had cared about.

"Do you hear me? It's not fair!"

Then he began laughing, realizing how crazy he was acting. There was no one alive to hear or answer him. He was screaming at a building for god's sake!

_ "This isn't funny Cody!" Carey Martin scolded her younger twin son, thumbing the edges of his abysmal report card forcing herself to stay calm._

_ "Ooohhh Cody!" Zack taunted his brother from just behind him._

_ "I am very disappointed in you…" Carey continued, turning back around to face Cody._

_ "Ooohhh disappointed!" Zack continued, secretly enjoying the tormenting of his brother. Cody rolled his eyes and turned around to face Zack._

_ "Ooohhh shut up!" Cody retorted, sneering in disgust at how his twin wouldn't back him up while talking to their mother, "But I'm trying as hard as I can!" he pleaded, turning back to face his mother, putting on his most convincing facial expression. Carey wasn't buying it as she looked down and read off the teacher's comments._

_ "Then why did all of your teachers write, 'Could try harder'?" She asked plainly, "I know you can do better than this…" _

Cody blinked in surprise. The sudden memory had seemed so real. He felt like he had actually been standing there talking to his mother. There was just one thing wrong with the memory… Zack had been the one with the bad report card, not him. Why did he re-live that event in time having swapped places with his twin?

_"I am very disappointed in you…"_ Carey's words echoed distantly in his head. Cody grew angry at the accusation, especially from his mother who was presently dead and gone. He was about to spout off an angry retort when an echo of his voice did it for him.

_"But I'm trying as hard as I can!" _

_ "Then why did all of your teachers write, 'Could try harder'?"_ The echo demanded, this time it was Zack's voice instead of his mothers', and his tone was more forceful; his words spoken louder as if he were just a few feet away.

"Fine!" Cody yelled, throwing up his arms in defeat, then at a normal speaking volume, "I'll just go and fix an extremely complex piece of equipment with absolutely no idea of what I'm doing. I mean it's just a Time Machine, how hard can it be?" He set off walking back to the Tipton, suddenly feeling energized now that he had a purpose in life, even if it was futile.

"Time Machine you say?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Cody started in surprise, not expecting to hear a human voice ever again in this desolate city. He looked over at the stranger lounging casually on a bench, remarkably still standing, at the bus stop just down the street from the Tipton. The owner of the voice was a strangely dressed man in his mid twenties, wearing a black robe that faded to grey at the edges, with short black hair that was gelled back and sharp hazel colored eyes that seemed to look through Cody rather than at him. He had the strangest impression that he had seen this man before.

"Who are…?" Then it hit him. As the man's overwhelming presence pressed down upon his shoulders and constricted his chest, Cody realized that he was face to face with the Demon Lord of the Chaos Realm himself. The man responsible for all of this. His hands balled into fists, ready to beat the life out of this man like they had done in so many of his fantasies centered on getting even with him.

"We meet at last Truth Seeker," Ashani said coolly, getting to his feet and walking up to Cody who involuntarily flinched backward. It was an instinctive reaction for he wasn't afraid of the Demon Lord. He knew he should be terrified, but for reasons unknown there was just emptiness where there should have been terror. Cody had been ready to die at Pandora's hands and join his family, what did it matter if Ashani killed him instead?

"Just get it over with. I'm not in the mood to talk to filth like you." Ashani's deceptively jovial expression died in an instant and his eyes narrowed.

"You eluded my Champions for years and now you've killed Chiam and Pandora. A pity you weren't born a Child of Darkness. I could have used someone like you."

"I don't think so."

"You have all of the qualities we value so highly, especially your ruthlessness in dealing with foes. You're just like us." Cody couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had nothing in common with this evil man or his Champions and he said as much.

"I'm nothing like you!"

Ashani merely smirked and flicked his wrist, producing the same ebony sword that he had used almost two years ago to kill Taschen with. Cody's eyes followed the blade as it raised upward above his executioner's head, poised to deliver a fatal downward stroke that would rip through his weak body and rob him of his life. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't dare take his eyes off of Ashani. That is, he didn't until Ashani glanced in the same direction.

Cody gaped at the impressive sight before his eyes. An angry red aura of light blurred towards them, generated by the Champion of Chaos clad in magnificent dark plate armor at the center of it. His dark sword trailed alongside of him as he raced across distance separating him from Ashani and Cody, flying several inches off the ground.

"So, my son seeks all of the glory for himself?" Ashani wondered aloud, letting his blade fall. Cody's impending death did not happen in slow motion like he would have expected it to. One second Ashani's sword was falling towards him and the next he was launched off of his feet, terrible pain rippling through his side. Cody landed, bounced, landed again and rolled over reeling from the impact.

He managed to look up from the ground, and he couldn't believe what he saw…

Jarran was standing where Cody had been, his right leg slightly behind his left to brace his body and sword against the force of Ashani's downward swing that had been intended for Cody. Father and son stood there glaring at each other, swords locked together. Cody somehow had a moment to marvel at how alike they looked, despite Ashani's expression of apparent confusion and Jarran's fear, uncertainty and unwavering determination. Both of them had the same handsome face with piercing eyes, the only major difference was really their hair color which Cody assumed Jarran had inherited from the mother he'd never known.

Then it clicked. Jarran hadn't betrayed Cody after all. Everything he'd gone through had just been an unlucky chain of events. The Demon Lord's son was now here, interposing himself between his father and his sworn enemy. Jarran was on Cody's side after all.

"Sorry I'm late," Jarran grunted, still pushing against his father's strength.

"What do you think you're doing boy!?" Ashani demanded, breaking contact with his son so abruptly that Jarran stumbled off balance for a second. The Demon Lord stepped back, his power soaring higher than Cody could have ever imagined as his dark armor covered him from head to toe.

"Stopping you," Jarran growled.

"And how do you plan to accomplish this son? By betraying your Realm and siding with the Children of Light? You disgust me." Cody could tell this insult got to Jarran. He had no way of explaining how he knew, he just did. Jarran seemed to be the kind of child who worked so hard for his parent's approval, which most likely came rarely, if at all, and this verbal barb stung him greatly.

"This time line is finished father! Cody has to go back in time or we will all die!" Jarran pleaded.

"And allow him to prepare the Earth for my invasion? I will not allow that." Ashani said in a deadly serious tone as he assumed an attacking stance.

"Then, you must die…" Jarran muttered, flowing into a defensive stance waiting for his father to make the first move.

"I'd like to see you try," Ashani laughed, taking his son's challenge a split second later and lashing out with a high speed flurry of slashes and thrusts. Cody expected his newfound ally to cry out in pain at any moment as he was impaled or cut deeply but Jarran never did. He matched Ashani blow for blow, flowing smoothly from blocking one attack to the next in a display of expert swordsmanship. Cody even swore that Jarran was occasionally blocking the random kick or two targeted at his head with his free hand.

Cody was mesmerized by the display of these two titans going head to head. He was amazed at how someone as young as Jarran could even keep up with the ancient Immortal Demon Lord who had thousands of years of practice and experience. Perhaps it would be better if Jarran were to travel back in time and stop the invasion since Cody was nowhere near as strong as him. It made sense…right?

His captivation nearly cost him everything as Ashani unleashed devastating blasts of negative energy, nearly hitting Cody who dived out of the way just in time. The blasts were aimed at his son who was struck by a glancing beam that exploded in front of him and sent him flying backwards with incredible force.

Jarran unceremoniously slammed into a nearby building and Ashani moved in for the kill, surging forward through the air impossibly fast. At the last possible second Jarran whirled around, evading his father's blade, grabbed onto his free arm and hurled the Demon Lord across the street in one smooth motion as he redirected his father's momentum.

Jarran turned to look around at Cody, blood flowing from a cut on the side of his face where Ashani had just barely missed him moments earlier. His hair clung to his head, drenched in sweat and the young Champion's chest rose and fell as he took deep breaths.

"CODY! THE TIPTON!" Jarran screamed, jolting a stunned Cody into action as he stood up shakily. Ashani's son turned back just in time to block his father's counter attack and the two of them became a blur once more as they engaged in high speed sword play.

Cody sprinted back to the Tipton as if Hades himself were on his heels, his earlier sense of purpose and now Jarran's protection driving him forward. Maybe there was something he could do, some little fix that he could apply to the Time Machine to make it work again. He wasn't about to let the last person alive who was counting on him down. Jarran had said that Cody had already traveled back through time, because of the presence of the safe Earth timeline, and that all he needed to do was to just do it again.

Out of nowhere Ashani came swooping down at him and Cody just barely leapt out of the way, the edge of the Demon Lord's shoulder pauldron snagging his shirt and tearing the left sleeve off. Cody looked back as Ashani recovered and expected the man to come after him at any second. Just before his fears came true, Jarran suddenly appeared and tackled his father. Both of them went rolling sideways away from Cody, a deadly tangle of limbs and swords flailing and searching for leverage.

Cody paused outside the Tipton as he reached it too see how much time he had left. Jarran had wrestled his father onto his back and held the dominant position, though the young Champion didn't have the leverage he needed to use his sword and he was too close to use energy attacks. Ashani quickly broke Jarran's guard, lashed out hard with his knee and knocked his son up and off of him. Jarran recovered quickly, slowing his ascent and sent a beam of negative energy at the ground. Even as Ashani blocked it outright, Jarran sent several small spheres of reddish pink light downward which bored down into the pavement several inches before erupting. Asphalt and concrete spewed skyward all around the Demon Lord and then the ground gave way, tons of earth and manmade objects abruptly plunging downward into the underground subway system taking Ashani with it. Jarran waited until the majority of the debris had stopped moving and plunged down into the tunnel himself after his father.

Satisfied that he would have the time that he needed, Cody re-entered the Tipton through the side entrance he and Lily had used earlier and retraced his steps back to the lobby. The ground underneath his feet heaved him forward as the entire downtown area was hit by a powerful tremor. Cody believed it was just the Earth in its death throes until he heard a muffled explosion deep below ground. Father and son were giving each other one hell of a fight.

"LILY?" Cody shouted desperately as he looked around the half destroyed lobby on his way to the rear stairs which were concealed out of sight of all areas where guests might once have been traveling through. There was no answer to his cry. He hesitated, wondering if he should try and find her before moving on and then thought against it. Jarran was giving everything he had to buy Cody time to jump back into the past and if Cody succeeded then Lily would be alright again, happily living with her family again.

Tears streaked Cody's vision as the realization that he would never see 'his' Lily ever again hit him hard. He wiped them off with the back of his hand as he jogged down the staircase into the basement levels. Everything would be alright if he succeeded; everything…

Emergency generators, heating and cooling, machine workshop, janitor's closet and then finally Cody was at Arwin's office. He burst through the door with so much force that it ripped free from its rusted hinges and clattered noisily to the ground. The time machine loomed in the back of the room, the only source of light in the office. It was still powered on, but there were a number of angry red status indicators glaring at him.

The sounds of Ashani and Jarran fighting got louder, presumably as they returned to above ground and Cody's breathing and pulse quickened. What was wrong with this damn thing? Why wasn't it working? He scanned the readout on the control panel and saw that two of the three batteries he had installed earlier were disconnected.

Cody blinked in surprise for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Was that all that was wrong with it? He circled around behind the machine and found that the two large lithium ion powerhouses had been jostled loose and weren't lining up with their connectors on the machine. Had he really been ready to throw away his life just because the batteries had come loose? Angry at himself, Cody gently pushed them back into place and firmly pressed them against their connectors to make sure they wouldn't come loose again. The time machine beeped several times, disrupting the silence that had fallen and all the indicators went green.

"All systems online and operational."

"YES!" Cody cried in relief and returned to the control panel, trying to figure out how to operate the machine. He tapped a button on the touch screen display labeled 'Auto Start'.

"Start up sequence initiated. Standby…"

"Wait a minute…" Cody whispered, straining to hear any sound of the fighting between Ashani and Jarran. He had noticed earlier that the sound had dropped off. He looked down the hall through the open doorway and saw nothing there. What had happened to them?

As if to answer his unspoken question the roof of the hallway caved in with a violent eruption, shaking the entire building, admitting a black clad armored warrior surrounded by a cloud of dust. Ashani staggered out of the debris pile and limped down the remainder of the hall and entered Arwin's office, his eyes burning with hatred.

The Demon Lord was badly wounded, his left leg was probably broken seeing as he favored his right side and walked with a bad limp. He was also holding his left hand over his right shoulder, staunching the flow of blood from a deep gash. His obsidian sword trailed along the ground from his limp sword arm, an obvious sign of how much pain he was in.

If Ashani was here though, where was Jarran? The young Champion was fighting just as much for his life as he was to buy Cody the time he needed to escape. There was no way he'd give up. That left only one conclusion. Jarran was dead. Cody was left to face Ashani alone.

"All your protectors are gone boy!" Ashani hissed, mirroring Cody's thoughts, "It's just you and me as it was meant to be. The last Champion of the strongest light realm against the Demon Lord of the strongest dark realm!"

Cody reached out for the light, trying to tap into his cosmic power source and for the first time found that it was blocked. It was there, but it seemed to slip out of his grasp every time he tried to grab hold of it. He didn't know what to do now…

There was no way he could finish off Ashani and the Demon Lord would cut him down before he reached the time machine. It wasn't ready anyway, still powering up, and Cody knew that he had to buy time for it to finish and also keep it from being destroyed. His last hope was so frail…

Ashani took one step forward.

Then he took a second step, drawing to within ten feet of Cody.

As he took his third step, which would have brought his sword into range, a scream of primal rage drowned out all other noise. Another black clad figure dropped down through the hole Ashani had created and raced forward. His leg broken, the Demon Lord couldn't turn around in time to meet the attack. Cody's spirits soared as a severely wounded and bloodied Jarran drove his sword through Ashani's right shoulder, just below the collar bone and to the left of the joint and out the other side.

Blood exploded from the wound as Ashani cried out in pain. Left to bleed out, the wound his son had inflicted would kill him quickly, but the Demon Lord never gave him the chance. He spun with the force of the attack, taking Jarran's sword with him and blasted the young Champion point blank with neon green light.

"No!!!" Jarran screamed in the split second before the attack connected with his body. As the deadly energy impacted him and illuminated the room in sickly green light, Jarran's shadow seemed to waver, distort and then flail about briefly. The ghostly shadow screeched with an inhuman voice and burst into smoke.

The spark of life in Jarran's eyes vanished in an instant and he fell forward into Ashani's arms, his armor fading away and his presence disappearing from Cody's sixth sense. The Demon Lord held his only son, supporting the dead young man's weight with his good left arm. Ashani looked at Jarran disbelievingly, his son's head resting against his chest, for a long moment before the Demon Lord turned his attention back to Cody with eyes full of pure loathing.

"You turned him against me!" Ashani roared in accusation, "You made me destroy his soul!"

"You were going to kill him anyway!" Cody shot back, anger over Jarran's sacrifice beginning to bubble up inside of him. He considered what Ashani had done to be the most heinous crime he'd ever seen in his life. For a father to murder his children was beyond cruel to Cody, it was inhuman.

"Things could have turned out differently!" Ashani grumbled, letting go of his son. Jarran's body slid down Ashani's side, broke contact and fell face first to the ground and lay still.

"All systems GO. Ready to jump!" the Time Machine chirped unhelpfully. Ashani looked past Cody at the machine and a dangerous look entered his eye. He meant to destroy it and condemn everything and everyone to total annihilation. Cody screamed in his mind, hating himself for how powerless he was to prevent the destruction of the Time Machine.

"You're not going anywhere," Ashani hissed, raising his left hand and collecting a large quantity of negative energy into it. The air around the Demon Lord wavered from the heat being put off by such a massive amount of power and Cody staggered off balance, overcome by a wave of vertigo as if he had stood up too quickly and the blood was rushing to his head. He became lightheaded all of a sudden and felt like a chunk of his energy had decided to jump ship.

Time slowed as Cody watched Ashani stand poised to wipe out Earth's last hope. He was powerless to stop the Demon Lord, the light still refused to let Cody draw upon its power. So this was how the human race went extinct? This was how Earth would meet its end?

Ashani's hand lowered slightly, making Cody believe that he wouldn't live to see the end and then the Demon Lord looked back over his shoulder. There was someone there Cody realized! Ashani turned in slow motion in order to redirect his energy attack at this unexpected foe.

Jarran was back on his feet…

Unbelievable!

Jarran moved forward with liquid grace under his father's left arm and inside his defenses. His right arm drew back as a flash of white light blinded Cody and then…

Then…

It was all over…

Ashani's body weight leaned on Jarran, for the young man had run his father through with his sword which he must have summoned when Cody was momentarily blinded. The silver blade reached up into the air, rivulets of red blood running down its perfectly smooth reflective surface onto Ashani's back.

Wait…Jarran's soulbound sword was metallic black like his father's. This sword was metallic silver, like Excalibur. Jarran looked at Cody meaningfully before he could ponder this inconsistency any further, his mouth forming a single word that he couldn't seem to say aloud.

'GO!'

Then Jarran's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, the sword vanished and his body fell backwards, Ashani landing on top of him and rolling off to one side.

Ashani coughed up dark venous blood and his left hand reached out as if he could somehow grab Cody and stop him, but the Earth's last defender was already getting into the Time Machine. As the Demon Lord drew his last breath, he saw arcs of blue lightning encircle the machine before everything went dark. There was a computerized feminine voice speaking and her words haunted him as he died.

"Now departing: The Present, en route to: The Past. Have a safe trip!"

* * *

**A/N:** It isn't over just yet...

Cody still has one final trial to face before The Chaos Demons begins…

Stay tuned for **Epilogue: "****September 1st, 2008****"**


	17. September 1st, 2008

**Epilogue**

**"****September 1st, 2008****"**

_Guess who just got back today?  
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away  
Haven't changed, haven't much to say  
But man, I still think those cats are great_

They were asking if you were around  
How you was, where you could be found  
I told them you were living downtown  
Driving all the old men crazy

The boys are back in town

_The boys are back in town  
_

_I said…_

_The boys are back in town_

_The boys are back in town_

_ "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy_

Blue…Everything was blue Cody thought as the Time Machine whined loudly as it powered up to critical mass. The entire capsule was vibrating and arcs of blue lightning raced in circles around the outside of the machine faster and faster. He braced himself as best he could, back pressed against the capsule's interior, arms braced and gripping conveniently located handholds, not knowing what to expect.

The machine lurched forward slightly and then Cody felt the ground fall away beneath the capsule. There was a feeling of acceleration and a roaring outside the time machine as it continued falling faster and faster. Soon he found himself weightless as the capsule reached terminal velocity.

As the machine continued doing whatever it was doing, Cody took a moment to reflect on the events that had just taken place which were confusing to him.

_"You made me destroy his soul!"_ Ashani's voice echoed in his thoughts, and then he saw the moment just before that…

_"No!!!" Jarran screamed in the split second before the attack connected with his body. As the deadly energy impacted him and illuminated the room in sickly green light, Jarran's shadow seemed to waver, distort and then flail about briefly. The ghostly shadow screeched with an inhuman voice and burst into smoke. _

The moment Jarran's soul had been destroyed by his father, the young man had dropped like an unstrung puppet and his presence had abruptly vanished from Cody's senses. From this he deduced that body and soul were connected and that if the soul was destroyed, then they body died. But if that were true, then how had Jarran gotten back up?

_Jarran was back on his feet…_

_Unbelievable! _

_Jarran moved forward with liquid grace under his father's left arm and inside his defenses. His right arm drew back as a flash of white light blinded Cody and then…_

Flash of white light? Where had that come from? He hadn't realized what it was at the time, but now Cody was sure that it had been the power of the light. But why did it appear? Cody couldn't tap into his power, and his light was gold anyway. Surely it couldn't have come from Ashani or Jarran, they were Children of Darkness. There was no way they could summon a power like that.

Another memory, an older memory, rose to the forefront of Cody's thoughts.

_"What is…I mean I have a power and a sword like yours…" Cody sputtered, unsure of how to ask the burning question._

_"The power…is light…"_ Came the answer from the boy warrior, Taschen, as he died. He was probably the only one who could give Cody the answers to the questions that now burned inside of him.

_"Taschen, what is Cody?" Lily asked, slipping her hand into his as he groaned in pain and the effort of talking._

_"Cody Martin is the Truth Seeker," Taschen answered without stopping this time. "My brother, I think he was like us."_

_"Yes…" Taschen replied, coughing a couple times. Blood ran freely from the corner of his mouth and his eyes widened in pain._

Cody's entire line of thought came screeching to a halt. Zack had the same power as he did. In fact, Cody had seen it before in a dream when he and Lily had been trying to escape from Chiam through the subway system. He'd always wondered if it had been real. If he had really seen Zack's last moments in a dream.

_Something snapped inside of him in that moment and power rushed into his body, filling him from head to toe with an intoxicating energy._

_His hands started to glow and then in a flash of light he suddenly found himself holding a sword that glowed in such a way that it seemed to pull the light in the room into it, rather than radiating its brilliance, leaving everything else looking dull and dark._

White. Zack's light was white, just as Cody's was gold!

_"Gold," Seeing that Cody did not seem to understand his cryptic answer, Jarran shook is head in dismay and explained in detail. "The Truth Seeker is always gold. The White Knight is, oddly enough, always white. The Guardian and Warden are red and blue respectively."_

_"You mean…the color of my light?"_

_"No. The color of your shoes!" Jarran exclaimed sarcastically in exasperation. "Yes your light. Good lord do you not even know who you are?"_

Zack was the White Knight, Cody the Truth Seeker and that made Taschen, whose light was a reddish gold, the Guardian. That left the Warden… Cody wondered who that was…

Then Cody's mind reeled as he hit another realization. Zack's light was white and he too possessed a sword not much different from Excalibur with a gleaning metallic silver blade.

_Jarran moved forward with liquid grace under his father's left arm and inside his defenses. His right arm drew back as a flash of white light blinded Cody and then…_

_The silver blade reached up into the air, rivulets of red blood running down its perfectly smooth reflective surface back onto Ashani's back. _

Jarran's soul was destroyed and his body left to die without it…

Cody's momentary feeling of vertigo just after that as he became lightheaded, as though a great weight had left his shoulders…

The Jarran miraculously on his feet again…

The flash of white light followed by Zack's sword running through Ashani…

Cody spun around in the capsule expecting to find his twin brother looking back at him, nodding a confirmation to his theory, but found nothing there. If the body died, what happened to the soul? Was Zack still alive somewhere on some supernatural plane watching over his little brother? Had Zack somehow jumped into Jarran's body the moment before it died, taken control of it and stopped Ashani to protect Cody from harm and enable him to go back in time to change all of their fates?

_"You cannot…stop them…without Zachary. You could…try, but…you would…destroy yourself,"_ Taschen's voice echoed. The boy was right. Cody couldn't have stopped them all without Zack. Who had been there to pull him back from the brink of disaster when Chiam had fallen? Who had come to him when Cody believed himself dead at Pandora's hands and encouraged him to fight his way back to life? Jarran had done a number on Ashani, but he wasn't the one who killed the Demon Lord. He couldn't have been.

Zack was still with Cody, helping him however he could and revealing himself when Cody's need for help was greatest.

"Thanks Zack," Cody said softly, closing his eyes and letting himself get carried off to sleep by the vibrations that the time machine was making finally feeling a sense of inner peace. He could have sworn he heard a reply, but he wasn't quite sure.

_"Any time."_

* * *

Cody was rudely awaked as he was sent sprawling forward, landing on a soft, but firm, surface that he couldn't exactly see very well because there was a persistent smoky blue haze all around him. He picked himself up off the ground and looked around, surprised to see himself in a dark blue void surrounded by the haze.

What was going on? Had the time machine failed? Was he dead now?

"Hello?" Cody called out. His voice sounded small and insignificant in this void, not carrying very far into the haze. Movement caught his eye off to the right and he was rewarded by a breathtaking sight.

Four knights in brilliantly colored armor walked out of the haze towards him. Each one of them were the colors that Jarran had spoken of. There was a knight in elaborate red and gold armor, another in blue and gold followed by one in white and gold which was Zack's color. Last of the group came the knight in gold and black armor, Cody's colors. His plate armor was exactly as Lily had described it. Each of them wore helmets so he could not see their faces.

These were the Children of Light, Cody was sure of it. Each one of them represented one of the four souls entrusted to protecting the Earth from the Children of Darkness. They spread out and surrounded Cody, the Warden stepping around behind him, the Guardian on the left, White Knight on the right and the Truth Seeker came to a stop standing directly in front of him. He looked up at the imposing knight and wondered what would come next.

"Your conduct is not befitting of a Champion of Earth," The Warden spoke with a rich feminine voice from behind.

"You gave up hope and were ready to throw your life away for nothing," The Guardian continued, his words picking up the instant that the Warden's had stopped.

"You lost your way and nearly lost yourself," The White Knight boomed. Cody looked back to the Truth Seeker expecting to hear him give criticism of his own, but the golden knight merely gestured for Cody to speak as if he knew the young man had something to say.

"None of you know what it was like! You were all dead and gone!" He screamed at the three of them, "It was hell on Earth, the worst thing I've ever experienced in my life and here you all stand high and mighty judging me?" Cody paused, feeling his skin tingling as all of his pent up anger came boiling to the surface.

"I didn't ask for this power and if I'm no longer 'befitting' of it, then I don't want it anymore!" He seethed with anger, daring any of them to say something else about what he'd gone through so that he could rip into them. Then the Truth Seeker spoke next, his voice calming Cody down as easily as Kurt Martin's soothing words had all those years ago when the younger twin awoke from horrible nightmares.

"Not even if you could save everyone on Earth?"

"I…That's why I'm doing this! That's what I'm risking my life for, to go back and undo all of the damage that the darkness did."

The Guardian and Warden unexpectedly stepped back into the haze and vanished. The White Knight put a heavy gauntleted hand on Cody's shoulder and forced him to his knees as the Truth Seeker produced Excalibur.

"So this is how it ends?" Cody muttered, believing that they were about to kill him since he had told them that he didn't want the power anymore if they deemed him unbefitting of it.

"No, this is how it begins," The White Knight said and the Truth Seeker rested his blade on Cody's shoulder. Realization struck him. Were they seriously knighting him?

"I give you my sword, my strength and my skill Cody Martin. Do not give up on yourself so easily and most importantly, never give up hope. The light is strong, and so are you."

_"Just take it. Besides, I have a feeling it will come in handy if you should ever lose all hope for the future again."_ Jarran's words echoed the knights' sentiments.

The Truth Seeker glowed a brilliant golden light that intensified until it hurt too much too look at and then Cody felt something warm and powerful fill every corner of his being.

The light had returned to him.

* * *

Daniel Winters was driving home on the interstate after a long day at the office when he spotted a brilliant blue flash of light followed by arcs of lightning appear alongside the road and briefly race across to the median in front of his car. Rather than panicking, he eased into the brakes coming to a quick and firm stop. A power transformer must have blown, there could even be downed wires on the road ahead of him.

Thankfully there were no cars behind him for a good distance so no one would get hurt. He looked around for a moment and then crept forward with his car to where the asphalt was scorched. There were no downed power lines. So what had caused the flash of blue light?

He happened to look out his side window and he gasped in surprise. Lying facedown in the grass was a body covered in blood.

"Oh my god…"

Daniel got out of his car quickly, his first instincts were to see if there was anything he could do for this unfortunate victim. As he reached the body, he realized that it was only a young man, not much older than his own sons Aidan and Tristan, and he felt sick with dread.

To his surprise and utmost relief, the kid was breathing steadily. Daniel shook his shoulder and he moaned, annoyed at the disturbance to his rest.

"Come on kid wake up," he pleaded. The teen's eyes slowly opened and focused on him, "Are you ok kid?"

The poor guy had really taken a beating, there were bruises, scratches and blood all over him. Daniel knew he had to call the paramedics now and get this boy some help right away. He started to pull his phone out of his coat pocket, but the boy sat up and put his hand against Daniel's, stopping the movement. He was surprised how warm this kid was on such a chilly night.

"What's your name kid?" Daniel asked, amazed at the boy's lack of any sign of pain all things considered.

"Cody."

"Well Cody, how are you feeling?" The teen seemed to consider this question for a long moment as he looked around taking in his surroundings, seeing cars pass on the opposite side of the highway and the light of a small town just down the road offering the usual combination of roadside amenities to include fuel, food and a place to stay for the night.

"I feel like a new man," Cody said, a small smile creeping across his lips. Then he started crying and a very confused Daniel tried comforting the young man who reminded him so much of his own twin sons. What he didn't know was that Cody wasn't in any pain at all.

His tears were tears of joy.

* * *

**A/N:** And so Truth Seeker, the first story in the Chaos Series, comes to a close.

Thank you all for reading Cody's perilous adventure, giving me your feedback, posing tough questions to keep me honest and giving me your ideas for several sections of the story which made it turn out far more epic than it would have been originally.

Last, but not least, thanks for all your support which gave me the motivation to bring this tale all the way to its conclusion. It's been a wild ride and left me with a lot of ideas, material, scenes and other plot ideas to include in the next story in the series.

Please, if you enjoyed Truth Seeker, feel free to join the discussions with the other readers and myself as well as get the latest news and sneak previews of the next story at **http:// forum. fanfiction. net /forum/The_Chaos_Realm/70751/**

_The battle for Earth begins again in_ **_CHAOS SERIES #2: The Chaos Demons_**.

~ Kulmanari


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